Pulling On Heartstrings
by vivonsjeune
Summary: Fallon Lahote lost her older brother Paul to Sam Uley for a reason unknown two years ago. She will do anything to find out why and to get him back. And now it seems Sam has collected another. Embry Call. Her interest in Embry is purely due to his connection to her brother, of course. At least, that's what she tells herself. Another imprint story. Embry/OC. Alternate timeline.
1. Prologue

**AN: **The timeline for this story is a bit different from the books. Paul and Jared become wolves two years before the rest of the pack. Also, this story will be about an imprint and his imprintee so any vampire drama in the books will be left out. This story will have his own plot and its own drama that will not follow the actions in the novels. Enjoy!

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_**PROLOGUE**_

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Fallon Lahote was a silent observer of everything that went on at Quileute Tribal School, so when Embry Call mysteriously disappeared for two weeks and suddenly returned with an almost entirely different appearance, she noticed.

He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. He had dark, actually _abnormally_ dark brown eyes; framed by thick black lashes, smooth skin with a beautiful russet undertone, and a creamy complexion. His lips, a little too big for his face, were often twisted quite cruelly, but they never lost their seductiveness. His cheeks hollowed to reveal sharp cheekbones, jutting out from underneath the dark, glossy hair that graced them. His tall, lithe frame, which made all his movements seem like liquid, gave him a competitive edge in all of his sporting pursuits. Now, his shirts fit him tighter, his voice was deeper, and he seemed to have sprout up several inches. It was like he had grown up in the time that he had been missing at school.

Now he was just like Paul.

On her fourteenth birthday Fallon's older brother disappeared in the same fashion as Embry Call. Paul was meant to meet her at Second Beach that afternoon, like they did each year on her birthday, but he never showed. She lost her brother that day. She lost him to Samuel Uley. Fallon wasn't sure how Sam was connected to her brother's sudden change in appearance and attitude, but Paul hardly ever left his side after his disappearance. Paul had scarcely said more than a handful of words to her ever since.

Two years after her brother and his best friend Jared began following Sam around like lost puppies, Embry joined them. Every day after school Jared and Embry would climb into the bed of her brother's blue Chevy pickup truck, and Paul would drive them straight to Sam's house. Fallon watched them from a distance, like she always did, but never said a word. She always made sure to keep to the shadows.

Ever since her big brother had vacated her life for a reason she couldn't fathom, she'd made finding out about Sam's little gang a pet project of hers. She watched them from afar in order to find out what exactly they were doing, but it's been two years and she was no closer to finding an answer than when she started.

As for her interest in Embry Call, it was purely for research purposes. At least, that's what she told herself.


	2. School Daze

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

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Fallon Lahote woke with a start at the sound of heavy breathing above her head. She sat upright in bed so quickly her head started to spin. The delighted laughter of Parker Grey filled her ears. She groaned and rubbed her temples. "Not funny, asshole," she muttered, swinging her legs over the side of her bed.

Parker had been Fallon's best friend for as long as either of them could remember. He moved next door to her when she was five and they had been inseparable ever since. "I couldn't resist," chuckled Parker. "Especially since I could hear your snoring all the way from my room, which woke me up by the way. You should think about shutting your window at night. Not only is it dangerous, but it disturbs all of your neighbors."

Fallon resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Your window is like ten feet from mine, so it wasn't _that _loud," she said. "And your family is the only 'neighbors' we have for miles around anyways."

Parker flopped down on her bed and wrapped himself in her ruby red comforter, while Fallon went to her armoire to throw together an outfit for the day. "Whatever you say, Fall," he said with a note of finality, clearly already bored with their argument.

As she made her way across her room, she nearly tripped over several books scattered on the floor. Her room was always a mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere: on the rumpled bed, hung over the canopy and backs of the wooden chairs, spilling out of the closet and the tall wardrobe propped against one wall. Her vanity table, with its weathered mirror, was covered in glitter, sequins, and pots of blush and powder. She had decorated the room herself many years ago; she even painted her own walls. They were gold like the Tuscan sun and shimmered with swirls of sponged-on silver paint.

Fallon grabbed her favorite jeans, a worn pair with several tears at the knees, and a long-sleeved white V-neck from off the floor. She took these along with a bra and underwear into the bathroom down the hall. She was supposed to share it with Paul, but since he was hardly ever home she had designated it as her own.

After getting ready for school, she grabbed Parker and went to the kitchen for some breakfast. Her father was already there, wearing nothing but a bath towel around his waist as he cooked bacon on the stove. In any other house this might be considered normal, but in the Lahote family it was as abnormal as witnessing a pig fly.

"Uh, good morning," said Fallon hesitantly.

Mahalo Lahote's charm was infamous through out La Push, but few fell for its shine anymore. Now he was better known for being the town drunk. He'd always had a drinking problem, but after his wife died it became so much worse. What's ironic is that he didn't even want to marry Celeste at first. He was just as irresponsible then as he was now, but he had no choice. He had gotten Celeste Black, only seventeen at the time, pregnant and leaving her unmarried was unacceptable in the council's eyes. In La Push the council controls almost everything, so when they suggested the two get married it was really more of a command. Celeste was from one of the oldest families in La Push and her discrepancy would not be tolerated. Mahalo was promised a job at the marina and some start up money for his part in the marriage. It sounds bad, but that was how things were done in such a small community. Two years after Paul was born, Celeste got pregnant with Fallon. By now Mahalo was deeply in love with his wife, so when she died giving birth it destroyed him. He cut all ties to her family—the _only_ family he had left—and started to drink more heavily than ever before. He had never said anything to Fallon about her mother or her death, but she knew he blamed her for it.

"Morning, little rabbit," Mahalo said brightly, turning around with a broad smile. Her dad may have been thirty, but he looked at least ten years younger. He still acted as if he were ten years younger, too.

Fallon knew he was in one of his rare good moods the moment she heard her old nickname. He never paid much attention to what went on in her life, but her obsession with carrots was something he had noticed when she was little. This was the first time he'd used the name in months, though. "Um, well, we're off for school," she said. She had completely forgotten about her growling stomach the moment she saw her dad trying to act normal in the kitchen.

"Okay, take some bacon with you," said Mahalo, throwing her a few pieces over the kitchen counter. "You too, Parker," he added.

As she shut the front door, Fallon could have sworn she heard her dad singing. "That was weird," Fallon muttered as she climbed onto her bike.

"I didn't think he even knew my name," responded Parker.

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It was 11:30 in the morning and the favorite part of Fallon's day: art class. It's the period before lunch, so most students spend the whole fifty-five minutes whining about being hungry, but not Fallon. She'd taken the last desk in the back of the room where there were less complaining teenagers and immediately pulled out her sketchbook. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Soon the familiar sounds of the classroom faded and she was left with sweet silence. She picked up her pencil.

The bell rang too early.

A little crestfallen, Fallon looked down at the picture she had been drawing. She had drawn a tall, dark stranger lurking in the shadows. He was surrounded by shades of black, but he was a dark blue. It resembled the man she had been dreaming about recently. His face was never clear to her in the dreams, but for some reason Fallon had subconsciously given him a face in the picture that looked awfully similar to Embry Call's. She blushed deeply as she clumsily put her things back in her bag. She quickly grabbed her knapsack and fled the room, leaving the picture behind.

At lunch while Parker yapped on about soccer practice and how his friend so-and-so wrongly blamed him for a bad pass, Fallon chewed on a carrot and thought of Embry.

She had never particularly liked him. He was always stirring up trouble with Jacob and Quil; others often called them "The Three Musketeers." He had a habit of picking on people not in his immediate friend circle, which happened to be a lot of people since he only bothered to talk to a select few. Fallon always got the feeling that he thought he was better than everybody else. So what was it now that had captured her attention? She was finding it harder and harder to believe her interest in him was solely due to his connection to her brother.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Fallon blinked and looked up at Parker. She blushed a little and muttered, "Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"It's okay. I knew talking about my soccer problems wouldn't be something you'd understand," responded Parker playfully.

Fallon stuck her tongue out at him for lack of something witty to say back. "I should head over early to Lit and Comp," she sighed, getting her things together as she stood. "I have to finish the last chapter of this book before class starts, but I'll see you in Gym." The only class the two friends had together was last period Gym, something they both griped about anytime they had spare time.

Parker shrugged and said, "Alright. Later, then."

Fallon watched as he went across the lunchroom to sit with some of his soccer buddies. Fallon had always been jealous of Parker's easy-going attitude and outgoing personality. He could make friends with a wall if he so desired it. Fallon, on the other hand, was cursed with a shy disposition and the inability to trust anyone. Her father's habit of consistently breaking his promises and ruining what little trust she had left in him was the unfortunate building block on which she built most of her relationships.

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Fallon was exhausted.

It was a Monday and it seemed like every class today besides art had embraced the pain that comes with the beginning of the school week. She had ridiculous amounts of homework in nearly every class. It wasn't until she was walking out to her bike that she realized her daily habit of spying on her brother had slackened considerably. She looked around for his truck, but was surprised to find that it was nowhere to be seen. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen her brother or Jared and Embry at all that day.

She didn't wait for Parker to leave, because she knew he'd be at soccer practice for at least an hour and a half. She was actually a little relieved to have the time alone to think about Embry and her brother without having to feel guilty about ignoring Parker. Unfortunately, she didn't get very far on her bike when the rain started to downpour. It had been drizzling all day, something Parker had reminded her of every five minutes. He hated having to use the indoor soccer field.

Fallon had just come to a stop at an intersection when she found the truck she had been looking for earlier. Through the rain she could see the blue truck with three blurry passengers speeding towards her. Jared and Embry were sitting in the bed, like usual, since the truck was only a two-door. As it grew closer and the blaring music got louder, Fallon realized something.

But it was too late.

As the truck ran the red light and zoomed past her, a wave of water crashed down upon her and nearly knocked her off her bike. They had just splashed her with freezing cold rain. The music faded as the truck rounded the corner, but she no longer cared. She had made eye contact with her brother and yet he still hadn't stopped. Jared and Embry must've seen her after they passed, as well.

She was shivering by the time she locked her bike in the shed. It took all of her will power to keep from crying as she ran up the stairs to her bedroom. It was the first time she had made eye contact with her brother in almost a month, and he had purposely splashed her in his hurry to get wherever it was that he was going. He cared so little about her that he didn't even stop to see that she was okay. He knew about her bad immune system and he must've known that this would most likely get her sick.

Fallon came to the conclusion that her brother truly no longer cared about her. While she lay trembling in her sheets, tears fell unwittingly from her eyes.


	3. He Looked Into Her Eyes

_**CHAPTER TWO**_

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Fallon missed the next two weeks of school due to a nasty cold. For the entire duration of her cold, her father was nowhere to be seen. Parker came over everyday after school to take care of her, even spending the night in Paul's room when she was especially feeling bad. She stayed in bed most of the time, but when Parker went to the kitchen to make her some soup he found a note from her dad. It must have fallen off the table when he was preparing the food.

She reread it aloud now while eating some grits, "Rabbit—gone surfing. There's a swell coming in at the Makah Rez. Don't wait up, Halo." She crumbled the note in her hand and tossed it to the side. "Unbelievable," she muttered.

"You don't need him, anyways," said Parker angrily, stabbing at his eggs with his fork. "At least you're feeling better now."

"Thanks to you," responded Fallon with a small smile. "You're the best, Park, you know that, right?" Parker smiled a bit, but Fallon could tell he only did it to humor her. She could tell that he was still pissed. He hadn't known the full extent of her family problems until now. She had kept it from him all this time, embarrassed by it.

She took another small bite of her grits and put down her fork. She still hadn't regained her appetite. She wouldn't have eaten at all, but Parker had dragged her to the only diner in La Push to get her out of the house. It was 10:00 AM on a Saturday, so _Sue's Kitchen _was pretty crowded. The only other restaurant in La Push was _River's Edge _and it was a well-known tourist trap, so most the locals would be seen here.

The bell jingled, signaling that someone else had entered the restaurant. Fallon looked up absently. It was five somebodies. She hadn't seen Paul since that day in the rain, but here he was now with Sam, Jared, Embry, and Jacob. Parker followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes. He knew that Paul was the one that had gotten Fallon sick. "Fucking assholes, the lot of 'em," he grunted, stabbing at his eggs again.

"What's Jacob Black doing with them?" asked Fallon quietly.

Parker shrugged and stuffed the rest of his eggs in his face. In between chews, he said, "You know how it goes, he must be the newest recruit."

Parker didn't know about her pet project, but it was common knowledge that Sam Uley had been collecting high school students for a while now. Nobody had paid that much attention to it, but it seemed that while Fallon was away the subject had become the newest juicy gossip. Everyone in the diner had turned to look at the boys when they entered. They pretended they didn't notice as they crowded around a corner booth, the only one big enough to accommodate them all.

She turned back to her nearly full plate of grits. "I think I'm done. You want to go?" she asked, keeping her eyes downcast. She couldn't look at Parker while she said it, because she knew he would see the tears threatening to form in her eyes.

When he dropped his fork with a clatter, she looked up out of surprise. Parker was no longer in his seat, but making his way across the room—towards Paul. Her heart stopped, and then started back up again with a rapid _thump thump thump_ in her chest.

"Hey, you—yeah, _you_," she heard Parker practically snarl.

Fallon quickly pulled some wadded bills out of her wallet and put them on the table. She rushed to where Parker was standing with clenched fists. She grabbed his arm and tugged. "It's fine, let's just go," she hissed.

But Paul was already standing.

"Do you have _any _idea of what you've done?" asked Parker.

"Who the fuck are you to talk to me?" hissed Paul in response, not at all happy with Parker's tone. His lips curled back in irritation.

"_Me_?" asked Parker disbelievingly. "I'm just the guy that took care of _your _little sister while she was sick for the past two weeks, because neither her father nor brother cared enough about her. Especially her goddamn brother—the one that got her sick in the first place, by the way, you asshole."

Parker then shoved Paul with both his hands and all of his body weight. Paul only staggered back a step, but the shock of being pushed was evident on his face. His whole body was trembling with what Fallon believed to be anger, but before he could act on it she jumped in front of Parker.

"Just stop," she said quickly, pushing Parker back towards the door. "Just forget it, Paul. We're going."

Paul didn't seem to hear her. His eyes had unwaveringly stayed on Parker. He pushed Fallon out of the way and swung at her best friend. She didn't see the rest, because she had been knocked to the ground where she then hit her head. Everything went fuzzy. There was a flurry of action. She heard multiple jingles as the boys spilled out the front door. She heard more shouting.

"Are you okay?"

Someone had taken her arm and was lifting her to her feet. She stared hard at a spot on the floor while everything was spinning, trying to slow it all down. Slowly, everything came back into focus. She looked up at the boy still holding her arm.

It was Embry Call. Of course, it would be Embry.

He was searching her face for any sign of bodily harm, when he met her eyes for the first time in, well, forever. His mouth was open as if to say something, but he must have lost his train of thought because he just stood there with a slack-jaw. Fallon's head throbbed unpleasantly, and she felt the tears from before come back with full force. She had to get out of there. Now.

She pulled her arm free of the blank-faced boy and ran.

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"Stop fussing, Fall. I'm fine, I swear," Parker said, shooing away her advances.

"You're _not _fine," Fallon said exasperatedly. "You've got a bloody nose. Just let me clean you off and make sure nothing else is broken."

"It's not broken. It just twinges a bit," he assured her.

Parker had gotten back to her house only thirty minutes after she did. Apparently, the other boys had dragged her brother off in the direction of the forest right after the fight had started. Fallon would have thought he was only saying this to make her less worried, but he really did only have a few scratches. Nothing was seriously hurt, which had to mean the fight really didn't last long. Paul would have torn Parker apart had he gotten the chance. Even before he started hanging out with Sam, Paul was violent. He was always getting into fights at school.

"Fine," Fallon sighed, putting down the first aid kid she had pulled out. She joined him on the couch where he was watching cartoons. "Thanks, by the way. I mean, for standing up for me. It was totally unnecessary and not a good idea at all, but thanks."

Parker didn't look away from the television, but he patted her leg affectionately and put his arm around her shoulders. He was never good with emotions, but Fallon didn't mind. She sighed and rested her head on his arm.

She fell asleep with the theme song of "Looney Tunes" playing in her head.


	4. He Raised Her

**AN:** I know this chapter is incredibly short, but I was so touched by all of your lovely reviews that I wanted to give you something back straight away. Don't worry, I am currently working on the next chapter and will update you very soon. I will put it up as soon as possible!

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_**CHAPTER THREE**_

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When Fallon opened her eyes again, she was alone. A note beside her informed her in Parker's familiar scrawl that he'd be back in the morning and that he hadn't wanted to wake her. She glanced at the clock on the wall, surprised to see that it was one in the morning. She'd been asleep for hours. Parker had thrown a blanket over her and had turned down the television so it was only a low murmur.

It was good that he did, too; otherwise, she might not have heard the familiar creak of the second step on the stairs as someone put their weight on it.

She sat upright quickly and turned to look at the staircase.

She exhaled in relief and said, "Paul. I thought you were a murderer."

Moonlight seeped in through the large stained glass window in their living room, lighting up half of Paul's visage as he finished coming down the steps. One side of his mouth quirked up, his characteristic half-assed smile, and he said, "Sorry to disappoint."

Fallon flipped on some of the lights and followed him into the kitchen. He was rummaging through the fridge. "What are you doing here?" she asked after a while.

He shut the fridge with his foot and dropped everything he had gathered onto the table. He started making a sandwich before he finally responded, "I live here, Bugs."

She went cold all over, as though he had doused her with cold water all over again. It was one thing to hear her father using her old nickname, but something entirely different to hear it from her brother. Her dad had always been an asshole, so she expected it from him. Her brother, on the other hand, wasn't always the way he was now. To hear him say 'Bugs' after all this time, when he used to say it with such laugher and love, killed her. It had been two years. Two _fucking _years since she'd heard it, and now he used it as if it were just a silly joke with no meaning at all.

He had _raised _her. It was Paul that gave her baths when she was little and that tucked her into bed. It was Paul that helped her with her homework. Paul was the one to teach her how to ride a bike. Paul pushed her into her first wave when she was seven, the day she felt like a real surfer like her big brother. Damn, she used to look up to him so much. He was her world. It had utterly destroyed her when he left.

Everything came flooding back. She had forgotten the deeply rooted feelings behind her 'obsession' with finding out information about Sam's gang. It had been so long since she let herself feel the pain that her brother's absence had caused.

Paul's voice cut through her reverie. "Why are you being so quiet? You don't watch Bugs Bunny anymore or something, kiddo?" he asked teasingly.

She just blinked at him.

Then, calmly, she walked out of the kitchen and straight out the backdoor. It was raining, like usual, but for once she didn't feel it against her skin. She only got a few steps before she felt a warm hand on her arm, yanking her back.

"Are you crazy? You just got over being sick, you'll kill yourself," Paul yelled at her over the rushing sounds of the wind and rain. He dragged her back inside the house and locked the door. "You're not even wearing shoes, for crissake."

Paul had bent down a little to look at her better, so Fallon took the opportunity to slap him across the face. She had never hit anybody in her life. It wasn't something she wanted to do again either, she realized as she nursed her throbbing hand. "Ouch," she muttered, shaking it in the air like an idiot.

She thought Paul might be mad or at least annoyed, but he took one look at her and burst into bark-like laughter. "Shut up," she said crossly. "I gave it my best shot."

"I'm going to have to teach you how to hit more like a man," Paul chuckled.

"I don't need _you _to teach me anything," quipped Fallon, brushing past him to go sit on the couch. She figured she would just ignore him until he left. Obviously leaving the house wouldn't be an option.

Her plan didn't work out exactly the way she thought it would.

Paul joined her on the couch and they watched several infomercials before either of them spoke. It started off with a long sigh, and then Paul said, "Look, I'm not here to make lame-ass excuses like Dad or even to apologize. I know there's nothing I could possibly say to ever convey to you how sorry I am about everything. I'm here to tell you to stay away from Embry Call."


	5. The Type Her Brother Warned Her About

******AN:** This chapter is a bit longer for your reading pleasure. Also, in my story, nobody has imprinted yet besides Embry. I thought Embry deserved to be first, for once! This includes Sam, who is still with Leah. He is the only one that keeps a relationship with someone outside the pack, since he has been a wolf for the longest and can control it the best. Anyways, because of this, the wolves don't know how to react. Fallon and Embry are the first couple to deal with the whole 'imprinting' thing, but that's later in the story. Enjoy!

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_**CHAPTER FOUR**_

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"_Excuse _me?" asked Fallon incredulously, jumping off the couch and staring at Paul like antlers had just popped out of the top of his head. "You only bothered to stop by after _two fucking years_ to order me to stay away from one of your stupid friends?" she repeated in a shout.

Fallon was seething. She didn't remember a time ever being as mad as she was right now. His audacity alone floored her, but not even bothering to explain his actions over the past years was what pushed her over the edge. "_Get out_!" she screeched.

Paul's eyes widened. Fallon had never acted like this before, but she was just as surprised by it as he. The pent up anger and pain was flowing through her, driving her. She was shaking with it. Paul held up his hands in surrender. "Calm down, calm down," he said pleadingly. "I'm sorry! I guess that came out wrong."

"'Came out wrong' is right," she scoffed. "Now, _please _leave."

For the first time that night, she saw emotion flicker behind his bright brown eyes. She saw the sorrow and pain she felt mirrored back to her in his eyes. The anger left her as soon as it had came, leaving only hollow sadness behind. She wearily fell back onto the couch and put her head in her hands. She felt the couch shift as Paul's weight joined her own. He didn't say anything, but instead wrapped his right arm around her.

It felt too good for Fallon to pull away.

She didn't realize she had been crying until Paul wiped away a tear. "Please don't cry, Bugs. I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I can't tell you what's been going on in my life, but believe me when I say it's only to protect you. I—I'm…dangerous, Fallon."

Fallon looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "How is leaving me all alone protection?" she cried. "What's so dangerous about you that I had to go the past two years without my big brother? You had to have to know how much you meant to me."

Paul stood up suddenly. His fists were clenched as he strode back and forth across the room. Fallon recognized this from her childhood. Whenever Paul got too angry, he would pace back and forth until he calmed down. She waited.

Eventually, he stopped. He was facing the wall, away from her, but she heard his voice crack as he said, "I knew you'd be fine." He returned to the couch and took both her hands in his own big ones. "You are _strong_, Fallon Celeste. You may not think so, but damn it I know it's true. I knew you'd get along fine without me, and besides you always had Parker to watch your back for you. I knew I had to be as far away from you as I could get, in order to protect you."

"But I wasn't fine," Fallon sobbed. The tears had come faster and faster, and now they were flowing out of her as easily as her next words. "I _needed _you, Paul, _so_ much. When you left, something broke inside of me. I haven't been the same since."

Paul squeezed her hands and then let them go. "I'm more sorry for that than you will ever know," he told her, "but I would rather seen you broken on the inside than broken on the outside. I could have _hurt _you, Fallon. I still can. I can't say more than that or I really would. Please, if you still love me at all, stay away from Call. Trust me when I tell you he's just as dangerous as I am, if not more so."

"But I don't even—" Fallon started to say, but Paul cut her off swiftly.

"Promise me, Fallon," he said fiercely.

Fallon recognized the look on his face. As if it were yesterday, she remembered the day at the beach where she had almost drowned and Paul made her promise never to go in again when the water was so rough. He didn't take 'no' as an answer then, and he wouldn't take it as an answer now. "I promise," she muttered bemusedly.

Paul sighed in obvious relief and ruffled her hair like he used to do when they were kids. "Thanks, Fall, I know you have no reason to trust me right now," he said.

"Yeah, well," she grunted, not really knowing what else to say.

"I'm already really late, so I have to go," Paul said next, making Fallon roll her eyes with an irritated sigh. Paul saw this and let out another peal of laughter. He bent down in front of her to look her in the eye. "I'll make a promise to you, too. I promise this won't be the last time that you'll see me."

"Well, that's just great," Fallon sniffed. "You run off into the sunset _again_, leaving me with a vague bullshit excuse for ditching me for two years, some nonsense about you being 'dangerous' somehow, and the explicit order to stay away from a random guy. Perfect. Amazing."

Paul opened the front door and let in the early morning light. He turned slightly and with an impish grin, said, "Actually, Bugs, I'm running off into the sun_rise_."

And then he was gone.

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When Parker Grey returned to Fallon's house the next morning, a small feast was waiting for him. He found Fallon in the kitchen still wearing her mother's apron as she cleaned the last of the dishes. He laughed at the sight and said, "Well, _someone_'s trying to steal Betty Crocker's spotlight."

"Shut up, Park," Fallon said lightly, "and eat your breakfast."

"What's the reason for all this?" asked Parker, gesturing at the two plates packed full of the best foods breakfast had to offer.

"No reason," she said with a shrug. "I've been up since one and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought I'd make breakfast. Oh, did I mention Paul stopped by?"

Parker nearly chocked on the sausage he had just started eating. "Explain. Now."

Fallon told Parker everything. They sat at the table long after they finished eating, just talking about it all. When she got to the part about Embry Call and her promise to stay away from him, Parker nodded as if he agreed. Fallon's brow furrowed. "Why do you think that's such a good idea?" she asked.

Parker shrugged, but said, "I mean, look at the people he hangs around, Fall. Uley's gang is no longer just the topic of high school gossip. _Everyone _in La Push is talking about them. He's getting more followers. The kids he already has under his wing have been missing a lot of school and getting bad grades."

Fallon didn't say anything. He was right, of course, but there was still something about Embry Call that kept nagging at her. She didn't know why she couldn't keep him off her mind, but she couldn't. What freaked her out the most was the fact that her brother must have had some inkling of an idea that she was crushing on him. Why else would he have gone out of his way to make sure she stayed away from him?

"Honestly, I'm tired of thinking about all of this. I need a change of scenery. Do you want to take a trip to First Beach while the rain's calmed down?" Fallon asked hopefully. She loved going to the beach and went as often as she could.

"Sure," Parker said easily.

The only good thing about living so far away from the main part of town was their location. They lived at the edge of the reservation, right beside the very end of First Beach. So not only did they have easy beach access, but also most of the tourists wouldn't make it that far. Most of the time, like today, they would have the beach all to themselves. All they had to do was leave their beach bungalows and walk a half-mile down a trail that would lead them to the shore.

Fallon abandoned her shoes at the end of the trail, preferring to walk barefoot across the sand. "Don't you just love the feel of sand as it squishes between your toes?" giggled Fallon as she pressed her toes into the sand.

"You're ridiculous," responded Parker, but he too had taken off his shoes.

They walked in silence for a while, just enjoying the salty spray of the sea and the wails of the pelagic birds flying overhead. They held hands like they'd been doing since they were little. It was as easy as breathing to Fallon. Being with Parker felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"Look!" she cried, suddenly excited. She let go of his hand and ran a little ways down the beach. She had spotted a tide pool. "Isn't this the one we used to play in as kids?" she asked eagerly as Parker caught up with her.

"No, that's still down a ways," Parker said, squinting down at the tide pool in front of them. "This one's too deep and narrow. We probably wouldn't even be able to see it if there wasn't such a low tide. Usually the water covers it."

She stood back as another wave crashed against the rocky edge of the pool, filling it with more water. She looked at the long expanse of the beach and remembered that the water's edge usually reached at least a couple of feet more than it did right now. She then leaned forward again, and realized he was right. This was one of the more dangerous ones her brother used to warn her to stay away from.

"Oh, well, now I feel dumb," said Fallon aloud. Parker's eyes widened. A second too late she realized what had surprised him. A wave had crept up behind her as she had been looking down at the tide pool.

It crashed over the rocks, knocking her off balance and easily allowing the wave to sweep her into the pool. She only had time for a small gasp of surprise before she splashed into the water below. She hit the bottom with force, scraping her feet along coral lining the bottom of the pool. She kicked desperately until her head broke the surface, but just as she took a deep gulp of air another wave crashed down upon her.

She was choking on the water as it pushed her back down. _I can't breathe, _she thought helplessly, fear making her heart beat faster. Her head broke the surface again, and she spat out as much water as she could manage before another wave forced her back down. The next time she came up she heard Parker's desperate shouts. She was back under again before she could even figure out what it was that he was saying. She broke the surface again and managed to look up long enough to see that someone else had joined Parker by the edge of the pool. Another wave brought her down, but this time she didn't come back up. The wave had knocked her into the side of tide pool, where she hit her head on the rocks and lost consciousness.

As everything slowly faded into black, she saw his face. It was twisted in pain and looked more terrified than she'd ever seen it look before, but she recognized it all the same. It was the face of the boy that had joined Parker.

Embry. Embry Call.


	6. The Prettiest Eyelashes

**AN: **For the purposes of my story, Paul does not imprint on Rachel Black in the future. I have made it so they are cousins, so that would just be wrong. Anyways, enjoy!

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_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

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The first rational thought Fallon had was about mint chocolate chip ice cream. The next, following the first very quickly, was of how hot she felt. She needed to figure out what was going on. She had to get up. Slowly, she tried opening her eyes.

Everything was fuzzy at first. She blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog from her mind. The room was dark, but as her eyes adjusted she started to recognize a few things: the coffee table across the room, covered completely with family photographs; the paintings on the wall; the worn green pullout chair. Scattered, distant memories flashed across her mind like an old movie playing inside her head. She remembered this place from her early childhood.

"I see you're finally awake," came a voice from the shadows.

"U-uncle Billy," she whispered hoarsely.

Billy Black rolled into the center of the living room, flipping on the light switch on his way. Fallon blinked at the sudden brightness. The source of the heat became clear to her in the light. An arm was wrapped securely around her waist. It radiated heat. Embry Call was sleeping soundlessly against the couch she was laying on with his right arm around her. She was too tired to bother thinking about the meaning behind it.

"You had one heck of a nasty fall," Billy said as he handed her a glass of water.

She gulped the entire thing down before responding. She cleared her throat a few times, and then managed to say, "Guess you could say that."

He smiled at her. "You used humor to answer to your problems as a young one, too," he said, patting her leg gently. "Some things never change."

Fallon remembered why she used to visit her uncle and cousins. Her dad would drop her and Paul off anytime he had the urge to go off on a drinking binge, which, incidentally, happened a lot. That was when Paul was still too young to take care of her. When Paul was nine and she was seven, their visits suddenly stopped. That was when her father severed all ties to the only family they had left. She used to think it was because Paul was old enough to watch her, but now she was beginning to think differently.

"Why did we stop coming over, Uncle Billy?" she blurted. Maybe it was the heat or maybe she was just tired of being lied to all the time, but either way she knew she wanted to hear the truth.

"Your father thought it was best," Billy said carefully. "You might not want to tell him you were here, either. When Embry called here frantically, I couldn't turn you away. I knew your father wouldn't approve, but I've dealt with my fair share of sick kids before so I knew I could help. The family doctor came over and patched you up while you were sleeping. Don't worry about the sling, it's only a pulled muscle."

Fallon looked down at her arms. Sure enough, her left arm was wrapped up and in a sling. She wanted to press Billy more about their past, but first she needed to sit up properly. She grabbed the arm wrapped around her with her free hand and tugged. Nothing happened. She glanced at Embry and found that he was still fast asleep.

Billy laughed heartily. "Ah, just like my boy. They sleep like the dead. The only way to wake Jake is with a bit of water. Let's see how it works with Embry," he said.

Before Fallon could even wonder what he was talking about, Billy took the rest of his water and poured it directly over Embry's head. It seemed to do the trick, because Embry shot up so fast it almost made Fallon dizzy just looking at him. "What's happening?" Embry asked, looking around quickly for any sign of immediate danger.

Fallon pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Unless the couch cushions are planning a military strike, I'm pretty sure we're safe," she said.

Billy laughed yet again, shaking his head at her. "You just never quit, do you?" he asked with a chuckle. "I'll go get us some more water. I'm sure you're very thirsty." Billy then rolled out of the room, leaving Fallon and Embry in awkward silence.

Fallon did the only thing she could think to do. She grabbed her bag and got to her feet as though she were about to leave. The minute she stood the world started to spin. She staggered back right into Embry's waiting arms. He held her just long enough to keep her steady, then let go. She might've imagined it, but for a second she thought his hand lingered by her side.

"Uh—thanks," she stammered. She felt her face grow hot and cursed her genes for making her so susceptible to blushing embarrassingly.

To her relief, Embry blushed as well. She didn't know why he was blushing, but it made her feel better all the same. It was less pronounced than her beet red face, she was sure, but it was still there. "No problem," he muttered. He cleared his throat and messed with his hair, obviously trying to act nonchalant, which made Fallon smile just a bit.

She sat back down on the couch. She didn't need a repeat of the whole 'almost fainting' thing. She figured she'd drink a lot of fluids, rest up, and then make her way back home when she was feeling up to it. "So … am I hideous?" she asked with a half-smile, trying to make the situation less awkward. She knew her face couldn't have been lucky enough to escape the fall unscathed.

"What? No!" Embry said at once, not at all getting the joke.

"I, uh, meant do I have any scratches on my face? There isn't a mirror."

"Oh, right," said Embry quickly. He was blushing again. He sat down at least a foot away from her on the couch and leaned over. She held back a gasp when he trailed his finger lightly from her eyebrow to her ear, and then from the corner of her lip to her chin. "Just here," he said softly, "and here."

Billy took this moment to roll back in. "Hope I didn't interrupt," he said cheerily, handing Fallon another glass of water. Embry sat back at once. She took it gratefully and drank it almost as fast as the first glass. "I heard you mention a mirror," Billy added. "When you're feeling up to it, the bathroom's the third door on the right. You can go on in and get yourself cleaned up. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, but my friend Charlie just got here to pick me up. We're spending the rest of the day fishing. Jake will be back in an hour, so when you leave you don't have to worry about locking up."

With those parting words, Billy rolled himself out the front door.

"He's awfully trusting. We could be thieves for all he knows," said Fallon, after a moment or two of more awkward silence.

Embry laughed. "Billy's known me for years, and don't forget you're his niece."

"How'd you know that?" asked Fallon curiously.

Fallon saw the panic flash in his eyes before he managed to blink it away. "Oh, I guess Jake just told me sometime," he said quickly. "I meant to tell you earlier, but I'm really sorry about your arm," he then said, easily changing the subject.

"What about my arm?"

He almost looked angry when he told her, "It's my fault." He stood and walked towards the fireplace. "When I got you out of the tide pool, I had to pull your entire body weight up by your arm. The pressure must've pulled a muscle or something."

Fallon just looked at him in surprise. "So you _are _the one that saved my life," she said quietly. "I knew you must've helped, but I didn't know it was only you."

"Yeah, well, that other kid tried to help, but he only got in the way. He couldn't reach you, and even if he could I'm sure he wouldn't have been strong enough to pull you to safety," Embry said with a hint of annoyance.

_Was he jealous?_ Fallon wondered. Aloud, she said, "Thank you. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been there."

"Your arm wouldn't be in a sling, that's for sure," he muttered, frustrated.

Fallon stood, slowly this time, and went to stand by Embry at the fireplace. She lightly touched his forearm. "Hey, forget about my stupid arm. I probably wouldn't even be _alive _if it weren't for you," she told him earnestly.

To her surprise, he covered the hand she had on his arm with one of his own. She never thought she had small hands before, but with Embry's to compare it to she was forced to think differently. He removed his hand almost as quickly as he had put it there. He cleared his throat and said, "You're welcome, I guess."

For the first time in a while, she laughed. Embry looked down at her bemusedly, but even he couldn't help but to smile. Her laughter was infectious. "If you're this bad at accepting a simple 'thanks,' I wonder how bad you are with compliments!" she said, after her laughter had died down to giggles. "What if I were to tell you that you have the prettiest eyelashes I've ever seen? I wonder how you'd respond," she added thoughtfully.

Embry smiled back at her. She couldn't remember ever seeing him smile before, not that she paid that much attention to him, of course. "Easy. I'd say, 'thanks for the girly compliment, but my eyelashes are nothing in comparison to the beauty of your eyes,'" he responded just as playfully. Fallon was glad the awkwardness had abated. Their easy banter felt _right_, comforting almost. Maybe Embry wasn't so bad after all.

It was then she remembered everything.

She remembered freshmen year, when Embry, Quil, and Jacob roamed the halls of school like they owned the place, knocking anyone in their path out of the way. And when they got a bit older, they'd thrown the greatest parties but only invited a select few to attend. Fallon had never been on that list. They were all juniors now, and they'd only just stopped tripping people in the halls for a laugh. Then there was the most recent development, of course. She'd made a promise to Paul to stay away from him.

"I should get going," she said abruptly. She couldn't make herself look up at him, but she could feel his eyes studying her face. She chanted to herself all the reasons why she shouldn't like him while she was grabbing her things. She had to keep herself motivated to leave. She knew just one look in his eyes would cause her to forget everything and make her want to stay.

"Okay," said Embry.

She pretended she didn't hear the hurt in his voice. She paused with her hand on the doorknob. "Thanks, again, for saving me," she said sincerely.

Fallon then quickly stepped out into the fading sunlight and started her long walk home, doing her best to not think of the boy she'd just left behind.


	7. The Scariest Thing She'd Ever Seen

_**CHAPTER SIX**_

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"Wait!"

Fallon turned around, startled. She had not taken more than five steps after telling Embry goodbye, when he came out the front door shouting. He bounded down the driveway to where she stood waiting. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"You walking home alone in the dark, _that_ is what's wrong," Embry told her. "Especially with all of your injuries."

"Injuries?" Fallon asked with a raised brow. "You mean my pulled muscle, small scrapes, and sore throat? Those are hardly things I'd classify as 'injuries.'"

He shrugged and took her bag from her. "Either way, I'm still walking you home, so you might as well skip the whole 'arguing with me' thing. Besides, it's the gentlemanly thing to do," he said with a smile.

Fallon had to bite her lip to keep from smiling back, but she managed an air of nonchalance as she said, "I suppose I can allow it."

He laughed wholeheartedly, shaking his head at her.

"What?" she asked him. "I'm serious. It's a big privilege to be seen with me. I'm doing you a _huge _favor, you know."

"Right, you are," he responded at once.

She chanced a quick look at him. She was surprised to see him still looking at her, with all of the joking gone from his face. She glanced away. "I'm only kidding," she said.

"I know," he said simply, "but it's not necessary, you know."

"What isn't necessary?" she asked as they rounded the corner. They had reached the long stretch of road leading out of the reservation towards Forks. They had maybe another mile until they reached her house.

"The sarcasm, of course. You say things you think are completely untrue, when in reality they're spot on. Most of the time, you're incredibly funny in your own sarcastic way. Sometimes, though, I can tell you're just using humor to hide what you're really thinking," Embry said frankly, not taking his eyes off her once.

"Wow, I think that's the most I've heard you say at one time."

"See! There you go again. Tell me what you're _really _thinking, Fallon."

Fallon looked away, staring down at the waves crashing on the beach below. She couldn't tell if she was more annoyed by Embry's ability to see right through her or by the fluttery feeling she got in her stomach when he said her name. She didn't respond right away, but Embry didn't push her. Eventually, she sighed, and said, "Fine. If you must know, I was thinking that you don't know the first thing about me. I was thinking about how annoying it was to have someone psychoanalyze the things I do."

To her surprise, he just laughed. "Much better," he said earnestly. "I think you worry about hurting people's feelings too much. Say what you feel!"

"You're psychoanalyzing again," she said, raising her eyebrow at him.

Unfortunately, her angry façade wasn't too effective when a smile sneaked its way onto her face. His eyes lit up when he saw it. "Gotchya," he said triumphantly, touching the dimple that always popped out when she smiled.

She felt herself blush. She quickly let her hair fall in front of her face to keep it from Embry. She absently touched her cheek where Embry had, feeling her blush deepen even more. _Damn him for making me feel this way_, she thought angrily. "Two can play this game," she said aloud, "why don't we psychoanalyze you now? I wonder what you _really _meant when you and your friends used to push people around at school. Personally, I always believed it was simply to prove that you could. Tell me, do you have some secret reason behind it all like me with my jokes?"

She didn't mean for it to come out so harshly, but she was still a little peeved at Embry for calling her out. He was right, of course, about the humor, but she hated to admit it. When Embry flinched at her words, she felt a twinge of guilt. "No," he said quietly, "I have no reason. I was an arrogant asshole, but I'm not like that anymore. I was just a stupid kid back then."

"Yeah, now you do the 'gentlemanly thing,' right?" she questioned, but she smiled to show him she was only teasing. It wasn't that she thought he hadn't been a dick back then, but it was hard for her to judge him just because of his past. It was true that he hadn't done anything like that all year, none of them had, so maybe people _can _change.

Embry didn't have a chance to respond, because at the same moment they both recognized the blue truck hurtling down the road towards them. Her brother suddenly banked to the right, coming to an abrupt halt a few feet in front of them. Embry only had time to mutter "shit," before her brother hopped out of the car. He left it running as he practically sprinted towards them.

He ran straight into Embry, knocking them both to the ground. "I _fucking_ told you, Embry, to _stay clear _of her," he snarled, punching him so hard in the face that Fallon let out a surprised yelp.

"Stop it, Paul!" she screamed, but he just ignored her like he usually did.

After enduring a few more of Paul's punches, Embry succeeded in throwing Paul off him. Fallon took this opportunity to get in between them. Paul got to his feet quickly, but Fallon managed to put her hand against his chest. She held the other in front of Embry, feeling ridiculously cliché but not giving a damn at that precise moment. "Stop acting like idiots," she yelled at them both. She then turned to Embry, knowing out of the two of them he would be more levelheaded. "Please, Embry. This is just silly," she said.

Embry took a step back, but he was still glaring at Paul over her head. She let out a big sigh of relief, but then realized a moment later it had been too soon. Paul knocked her hand away, pushing her protectively behind him. She stumbled a bit before falling back on her butt with a quiet _'oomph_.'

She looked up just in time to catch sight of the scariest thing she'd ever seen in her entire life. It was Embry, but his face had transformed into something almost unrecognizable. She'd _never _seen such anger before. His eyes were dark, narrow slits, zeroed in on her brother. His teeth were clenched tightly together with his lips pulled back in a snarl, but he still managed to make an animalistic growl. She didn't even know people could _make_ that noise. She sat frozen in place as Embry leaped at Paul. She couldn't imagine the look of horror she probably had on her face as she watched the two roll the short distance into the woods. They were acting like a pair of animals.

Stiffly, she got to her feet. She started to calmly walk back to her brother's car, planning on taking it back to the house so he would be forced to come over and explain himself, but found herself walking right past it.

She started to run.

She had to get the memory of Embry's face out of her mind. It was all that she could see. She didn't care about forcing her brother to explain himself, not right now. All she wanted to do was forget everything she'd seen. She pushed herself harder, just waiting for the blissful pain she'd soon feel in her side. She used to run all the time as a kid whenever she was feeling sad about her dad. She found that running could be a brilliant distraction from her everyday life.

When she finally reached the dirt road leading to the Grey and Lahote households, she quickly ran its length and deliberately burst through the wrong door. She didn't want to go home to an empty house right now. She needed her best friend. She thanked the heavens that her family was poor and couldn't afford the sister house when her parents first moved in. The previous owner had built it as a sort of add on to the first, but he had been willing to sell the two separately.

Parker and his little sister were watching cartoons, but he immediately jumped up at the sight of her. He walked over to her in two long strides and grabbed her in a tightly gripped bear hug. He'd never hugged her so hard before. "I was so worried," he said into her hair, "but after that giant fished you out he told me he'd take you to a doctor. Next thing I know, he's run off with you in his arms. I've never seen someone run so fast. I tried to follow, I swear, but—"

He cut himself short once he realized she was shaking in his arms. He pulled her back at arms length to get a good look at her. She was crying openly. Fallon had only cried a handful of times in front of him, but she couldn't stop herself. Wordlessly, he led her to the couch. "How about you go make us some of your famous hot chocolate, Mona," he told his sister quietly. "I'm sure Fallon would appreciate it."

Fallon had been Ramona's favorite person ever since she was born six years ago, so she jumped up energetically at once. She started to run from the room, but abruptly came back and went to stand in front of Fallon. She kissed her on the nose and whispered, "I've gotten real good at wrestling Parker, so I can beat up the meanie that hurt your feelings if you want."

Fallon watched her run back into the kitchen, before bursting into genuine, delighted laughter.


	8. The Last Thing She Would Ever Do

**AN: **First off, sorry for taking so long to update. I've been on vacation! I just got back today, so I went to work immediately. This is a short chapter, but I felt you guys needed _something _to read. I'm already working on the next one, so you won't have to wait long!

Also, the pack now consists of, in order of their transformations (in my story): Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry, Jacob, and now Quil. Embry is still the only one who has imprinted. Sam hasn't met Emily yet, so none of them understand how imprinting works. To answer all of you all's question, this is why Paul is so adamant about keeping Embry away from his sister. Right now, the pack secludes themselves from the rest of the community. They think this is the only way to keep them safe in case one of them makes a mistake. Paul doesn't want Embry near his sister because of the potential threat a new werewolf possesses, especially since Embry's feelings for her make all of his emotions even more heightened and therefore more unpredictable.

As for Sam and Leah, he's been avoiding her calls and is doing his best to stay away from her. So literally no one in the pack is having outside contact with anyone else, besides Embry and Paul. I hope this clears a few things up, if not let me know in your reviews and I'll try to better explain it. Happy reading!

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_**CHAPTER SEVEN**_

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"Don't drop me!" squealed Mona, tightening her grip on Fallon's hair. She currently had her legs wrapped tightly around Fallon's neck and her fingers intertwined in her hair. Parker walked along side them, stifling his laughter behind his hand.

This morning Fallon had been woken up by the sound of a camera going off. She'd fallen asleep the night before on Parker's couch, with Mona snuggled into her side and her head on Parker's lap. His parents had thought it was precious, much to Parker's embarrassment, so they'd snapped a picture. Parker, Mona, and Fallon had just left them reading their newspapers to go for a stroll on the beach. Fallon remembered thinking how strange it seemed to have two parents living under the same roof doing something as normal as reading the day's paper. She still hadn't received word from her own father.

"Lets toss her in the sea," said Parker suddenly, grabbing Mona from Fallon's shoulders, much to her relief, and swinging her around. Mona squealed and kicked wildly. Laughing, Parker put her down. She immediately sprinted off down the beach in search of seashells for her collection.

Parker and Fallon continued walking until they found a suitable log to sit upon. They watched Mona in silence for a while, before Parker finally asked quietly, "Do you want to talk about it, Fall?"

Fallon shook her head at once. She didn't want to think about it ever again, let alone talk about it. Her nightmares last night centered on Embry Call's eyes, narrowed into angry slits. Every time she blinked she saw them. They sent shivers down her spine. She was glad that winter break had started during the time that she sick. She wouldn't have to deal with Embry again until school started back up, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be on her mind every day. _More like every second_, thought Fallon, annoyed with herself. She didn't understand her sudden obsession with Embry Call. Shouldn't have his actions last night deterred her from continuing to like him? She thought it would, and it did for a little while, but for some reason she still found herself yearning for him.

"What'chya thinking about?"

"Hmm?" asked Fallon absently, looking over at Parker. She could get lost in her own thoughts so easily. She probably wouldn't have even heard him ask her a question, if the question itself hadn't reminded her of Embry and their conversation yesterday.

"What the hell is _he _doing here?"

Fallon whipped her head back around. She felt her heart thumping heavily in her chest, half hoping it was Embry and half hoping it was not. She felt her heart sink when she recognized Paul's lumbering form coming towards them. She was mildly surprised at her reaction, since all she ever used to want was to see her brother.

"You guys need to get off the beach. Now."

"Is that your idea of a greeting? A simple 'good morning' would have sufficed," chided Fallon, with her arms crossed and her lips pursed. Paul had barely reached them when he blurted out his order. She was tired of his attitude and controlling nature.

Paul gripped her upper arm tightly and then yanked her to her feet. "I'm _deadly_ serious, Fallon Celeste Lahote," he said, trying his best to sound menacing.

It didn't have the desired effect, because Fallon remembered his 'serious tone' from her childhood. He was all bark and no bite. He may have been a hard ass to everyone else in La Push, but to her he was a big softie. She yanked her arm free. "Why, then?" she demanded. "Give me _one _good reason and we'll take Mona and go."

"It isn't safe," huffed Paul, frustrated. "There's something in the woods. You two need to _go_, and who the hell is Mona?"

"The little girl collecting seashells, dummy. She's Parker's little—"

Fallon didn't manage to get the rest of her sentence out. She'd looked to the shoreline to point her out to Paul, when she realized she was nowhere to be seen. "_Fucking _hell," she swore. Paul's eyes widened at her choice of vocabulary. "She's gone. Holy crap, Park, she's gone," said Fallon, looking at Parker with panic in her eyes.

_It isn't safe in the woods,_ thought Fallon hysterically. _Oh no no no no no._ This was all her fault. They'd been distracted by Paul. They took their eyes off Ramona. This was _her fault_. She had to fix it. Before either of the boys could realize what was happening, she took off in the direction of the trees. It didn't take long for either of them to reach her, but she didn't care. "Ramona!" she screeched. "Mona, sweetie, come here so we can play a game," she called desperately.

"Fallon, get out of here—"

"_NO_," she screamed, swatting at her brother's hands. "No, Paul. We have to find her, she's just a little girl."

Parker was already several feet in front of them, screaming himself hoarse, saying any and everything to get Ramona's attention. Fallon tried to join him, but Paul had yanked her back. She slapped him as hard as she could. This bought her several seconds to run off, but Paul caught up with her in no time. "Ramona!" she managed to shout one more time, before Paul lifted her off her feet.

"I'm taking you home," he said gruffly, throwing her over his shoulder. "Parker, come on. I promise you we'll find her, but you two need to get out of here."

Naturally, Parker ignored his request. "This is _my _sister we're talking about here," he snarled at Paul. "You take Fallon home so she's safe, but I have to stay here and find my little sister so I can make sure she's safe as well. Don't you understand that?"

He obviously did, because without another word he ran off with Fallon still on his shoulder. Paul ran all the way back to their house without so much as breaking a sweat. Without a word to the struggling girl in his arms, he plopped her down in the empty bathtub and left the room. Fallon quickly got to her feet and raced for the door, but Paul slammed it shut and turned the lock.

"_Paul, you let me out this second,_" she hissed, banging her fists on the door.

"Sorry, Fallon, but this is the only way I can be sure you're safe. I told you that I was dangerous, but I'm not the only dangerous thing out there."

She heard his footsteps fade away, and then the sound of the front door shutting. She only waited five seconds before turning to the small window above the toilet. She forced it open. She hadn't done this since she was a kid, but she was still small enough to fit herself through if she tried hard enough. She _did_ try hard enough, because she managed to slip out with only a few scrapes on her back. She'd gone out the window feet first so she wouldn't land on her face, but the impact of her suddenly hitting the dirt shot a sharp pain up her leg and through her body. She gingerly tested her weight on it. She gasped in pain, knowing then she'd sprained it. None of that mattered right now, though. She started her way down the path leading to the beach.

She would find that little girl if it was the last thing that she would ever do.


	9. You Are A Fascinating Creature

**AN: **Sorry it took me so long to update! I totally forgot that my family was coming into town to visit. The next chapter may take me a while too since I will be spending time with my family. Happy reading!

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_**CHAPTER EIGHT**_

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Fallon's ankle was killing her. She had developed a bit of a limp as she'd reached the trees, but that didn't deter her. She would rather break every bone in her body than leave this little girl alone in the woods. They were scary enough after dark, but especially now that she knew _something _was lurking in the shadows.

"Ramona Grey, get your butt out here!" she hollered.

She pushed through the bushes and continued on, but not before glancing back at the beach. As the trees grew denser and closer together, the beach grew smaller and smaller in the distance. She steadied her erratic breathing, and then yelled, "Mona!"

She thought she heard a muffled response. Forgetting her hurt ankle, she hurried as quickly as she could in the direction of the noise. "Please be her, please be her, please be her," she repeated under her breath like a mantra, struggling to push through the brush.

"I'm here!"

The high-pitched little girl's voice was music to her ears. She pushed the rest of the way through to find Ramona sitting cross-legged on the forest floor with her seashells spread around her. She sighed in relief, picking Ramona up to squeeze her in her arms. "We've been so worried, Mona. How did you get all the way out here?" she asked her.

Mona pointed at something behind her. Fallon turned around just in time to see a man step carefully out of the shadows. "That would be my fault, I'm afraid," the man drawled as he came closer.

Fallon's instincts told her something was definitely wrong, but the niceties taught to her by Paul as a little girl prevented her from being rude. So, with a cautious smile, she asked, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" Her arms tightened around Mona automatically.

"No, I believe this is the first time I've made your acquaintance," he said, adding to Fallon's uneasy feeling. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Marcel Rosier."

He held out his hand. Fallon stared at it stupidly for a second, and then took a tiny step forward to reach out with her own hand. Once he had it in his abnormally cool grasp, he tightened his hold and slowly pulled her forward. "You are a fascinating creature, young Fallon," he murmured, looking down at her with mild interest in his eyes.

"How did—h-how do you know my name?" she stuttered. Her fear made her tongue feel thick in her mouth, making it hard for her to form words.

He didn't respond for a long minute, so Fallon hesitantly looked upwards to see his face. His dashing beauty immediately surprised her. She'd been too afraid to look at him properly before. His skin was pale and pristine, like her mother's china that she'd once found while playing in the attic. She'd never seen blonder hair and bluer eyes than the ones he possessed. He had a model's face, with his high cheekbones and pouty lips, and a long, slender body. He was beautiful, anyone could see it, and yet Fallon wasn't at all attracted to him. She preferred a darker skin tone, messy black hair, bright brown eyes…Embry. Of course, she was describing Embry.

"It's so interesting how many emotions can cross your face in such a short period of time. The human ability to experience such strong emotions is unparalleled by any other species in the world," Marcel said, still gazing curiously at her face.

As if coming out of a trance, Fallon stepped back and withdrew her hand. Ramona was still perched uncomfortably on her hip, so she shifted her to her back. Piggyback style would allow Fallon to run faster if she had to make a quick escape from this weird man. "We better get going," she finally said. She was glad the stammer had gone.

Marcel bowed slightly to her in an oddly old-fashioned way. "Of course," he said graciously. "We don't want your friends to unleash the dogs upon usto search for you." He laughed as though he'd made a funny joke. The sound hurt her ears.

She backed away slowly, still facing him. She knew better than to show her back to a dangerous stranger. Paul had taught her self-defense at the ripe age of ten.

"I _will _be seeing you," he said, smiling oddly at her. The way he said it conveyed to her that there wasn't a question that they would meet again. It sent shivers down her spine. "Oh, and if you would be so kind to tell your delightful pack of friends that I am anxious to meet them as well." He must have seen the confusion on her face, because he elaborated, "Oh you know those boys. The ones that always act like a bunch of wild dogs, especially that one boy of yours. Embry, I believe is his name. I am _very _anxious to meet him. After all, he's the reason I'm here. Well, and for you, of course."

Before she could even grasp what he was saying and recognize the sinister undertones, he was gone. She didn't care where he'd gone or how fast he could disappear; she just wanted to get Ramona home.

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Fallon was too tired to even think about the bizarre things the man had said as she slowly made her way back to the beach. Her back ached from the added weight of carrying Ramona, and it didn't help her ankle feel any better, either. Luckily, for once, her brother's freakishly overprotective nature came in handy, because he was suddenly standing before her. Paul must've gone to check on her, only to find her missing.

Wordlessly, he took Ramona from her and put her on his own back. She'd fallen asleep at some point. She looked adorable with her head on his shoulder and her mouth wide open. It was then that the relief of finding her actually sunk in. She never would have forgiven herself if something had happened to her. When Paul swept her off her feet and carried her like a baby in his arms, her natural instinct was to complain and get down. She didn't know if it was because her ankle hurt so badly or because she was feeling guilty for sneaking out, but she didn't say a word.

They reached the beach quickly after Paul picked her up. It was there she started to laugh hysterically. Sam, Jared, Jacob, and Quil stood shoulder-to-shoulder, barebacked, and looking freakishly identical. Even though the sight of them was funny, it wasn't the only reason why she started laughing. The day's events had finally sunk in, and the only thing she could do was laugh. She thought she might cry otherwise.

"Where's Embry?" she blurted, and then immediately regretted. She was so red in the face that she was sure some astronauts in space could see.

"Here," came a husky voice from the shadows of the trees. "I'm here."

Worry immediately set in at the tone of his voice. It was strained and anguished, just barely above a whisper. "Put me down," she told Paul. She was actually a little surprised when he obliged. The sudden weight put on her ankle caused her to buckle and stagger backward. Embry was by her side in an instant, catching her before she'd fallen.

"Embry, _I told you to run_," barked Sam. "You need to clear your head, get your energy out, and _calm down_. You're not safe to be around her right now."

"It wasn't an order, so I ignored it," Embry snapped. His arm was still securely around her waist, but she managed to twist around and look up at him in shock. She'd never heard Embry talk that way, but then again she'd never seen him look so scary as he did that one night. There were a lot of things she didn't know about Embry Call. For example, she didn't understand a single word they were saying right now. Words like 'order' and 'not safe' bounced around in her head, but it didn't make any sense.

She tuned back in when Paul said, "Come on, Fall, I'll take you home."

"Um," she started awkwardly, "I guess I have a message for you before we leave; _all _of you. There was a man with Mona when I found her. He was very peculiar. He said he was excited to meet you guys. Um, I guess that's it." She looked over at Paul and added, "Let's go. I'm exhausted and so is Mona."

It seemed the end of her sentence was unimportant, because they all began talking rapidly at each other while she finished. Embry's grip had become almost painful on her arm and his body had begun to shake. Scared and confused, she tugged at his hand. He didn't seem to notice. His eyes were scanning the trees and his face was twisted into a ferocious scowl. She winced and muttered, "Ouch. Could you loosen your grip?"

Embry immediately let go and slowly started backing away. He looked back and forth between his two hands with disgust. Her skin was a little red from where his hand had been, but the pain had already vanished. It wasn't a big deal, but when she opened her mouth to tell Embry so, she realized he had gone. She looked back at the other boys, more confused than ever.

"Take her to my new place and we'll question her there. It's a more secure location," Sam was saying as she reentered their conversation. He was talking to her brother. "Jared and Quil, go find Embry. Once there are three of you, fan out and search the trees. It probably already got away, but we have to make sure."

After Jared and Quil disappeared into the woods, Sam told Jacob to get Ramona home safely and then to meet them at his house. Paul had picked her up again before she really understood what was wrong. Everything around her was a swirl of motion. It was all happening so fast that it was making her head spin. All the excitement made her light-headed and she soon found that everything had gone fuzzy.

Her last few moments of consciousness had made at least one thing clear. Sam's words were crystal clear: "Do not let her out of your sight, Paul, and do not let her leave my house until I say it's okay. That's an order."

It seemed like the world she so desperately tried to understand, _Paul's_ world, had somehow become her own. And she wouldn't be able to return home until Sam deemed it acceptable. She was a virtually a prisoner and she had absolutely no idea why. Even though all of stressful events of the day were zooming around her mind and cluttering her thoughts, she still managed to picture Embry's face one last time before the world went black.


	10. Her Ignorance Will Kill Her

**AN: **Hello all! This chapter ends the first part of my story, where I laid down the logistics of the plot and introduced the main characters. I've read all of your questions and reviews, but in time all of the secrets you're curious about will be revealed! Fallon can only uncover one at a time! Chapter ten will be up as soon as possible! Happy reading!

_To LifeIsTooShortEatIceCream: _You have excellent questions! You're asking all of the right ones that my story is based around, but I can only clarify a few things. I don't want to spoil the surprise!:)

-Later it will be revealed why Marcel is after Fallon and Embry. The Cullens have just moved back to Forks (hence why Jacob, Quil, and Embry have transformed - and later Seth and Leah). The treaty is still in place, so the wolves ignored their arrival. Marcel had heard of the Cullens and their 'strange' lifestyle, so he came to see for himself. His curiosity is something he had a lot of as a human, so he has even more now that he's a vampire. His discovery of the La Push wolves was completely coincidental. He's very intrigued by them, but that's all I'm saying for now!

-Fallon could in fact be a wolf. It's unlikely, however. I'm not Meyer so I can't be for certain, but I believe it's kind of like a "wolf gene" that only some of the kids inherit. Girls usually don't inherit this gene, because only the men in families have transformed in their history. (For example, Jacob's older sisters.) This is why they are so surprised by Leah's transformation later on.

(And yes, I love Marcel the Shell but he wasn't in my mind when I picked the name! Haha!) Thank you for the incredibly helpful feedback in your reviews! This one's for you.

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_**CHAPTER NINE**_

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Fallon Lahote was sick and tired of waking up in unfamiliar houses. When she woke up to discover that once again she was someplace that was _not_ her bed, she sighed in frustration. She had hardly blinked, but when she reopened her eyes six hulking men surrounded her. She bit back her yelp of surprise.

The dark brown eyes of Embry Call were the first she sought. The moment they made eye contact, Embry pushed Quil out of the way with just one hand. Quil had slammed into the wall so hard that it reverberated throughout the house, but Embry merely sat down in his spot as if it were no big deal. "How are you feeling?" he asked her softly. She watched as his hand hovered for a moment, almost as if he were about to hold her hand, and then drop back to his side limply.

"Um, fine, I guess," mumbled Fallon lamely. After he knew she was feeling better, his eyes immediately flickered to the place where he'd grabbed her arm. A strange, clouded look crossed his face. Before she could think to say anything, Embry got to his feet smoothly and walked out the front door. His calm façade was shattered as he slammed the door shut behind him. Sam immediately followed him.

"Fall, I know this is a lot to take in right now," Paul said after Sam had gone, "but we need you to tell us everything that happened in the forest. _Everything_."

"And lose my only bargaining chip? Hell no. I want answers first," Fallon rebutted, crossing her arms across her chest.

"_Do you think this is some kind of game?"_

Utterly shocked, Fallon turned to look at Jared. Sweet, soft-spoken Jared had just yelled at her for the first time. She'd known Jared practically her entire life and he had never done anything like that before. She had never understood why Jared and Paul were such good friends when they had such opposite personalities, but they're as close as brothers. Jared was to Paul like Parker was to Fallon.

"Okay," she said simply, after a long pause. The moment Jared yelled at her, she knew that this was bigger than she'd originally thought. Something horrible must be brewing in La Push to cause Jared Cameron to lose his cool.

The first time she explained what happened in the woods Fallon talked for ten minutes before coming to the end of her story. When Paul made her tell it again, _"but this time with more details,"_ she talked for over an hour. She hesitated when she got to the part where Marcel said goodbye. She remembered what he had said and knew Paul wouldn't like it, not to mention the fact that it embarrassed her to say it out loud. "Well," she sighed tiredly, "he said something . . . odd before he disappeared."

"You can tell us, Fallon," Jacob said sincerely, gripping her hand in support.

"The way he spoke about you guys was _off_, even though the words were pleasant enough. He kept making the correlation between you all and dogs," said Fallon curiously. If she hadn't been staring at a piece of dust on the ground in an attempt to avoid eye contact, she would have noticed the way they all tensed. "I think he believed me to be stupid," she continued, unaware of the effect her words were having on her audience. "It was so obvious to me what he was doing, but he laughed as though I had no idea. If he knew me at all, he would've known I notice _everything_. My ability to take in every detail, however insignificant, and pick out what really matters is what fuels my passion for journalism. I like to finda story and solve its riddles in order to give myself a break from the unquenchable thirst my curiosity gives me."

While the rest of the boys looked at Fallon in confusion, probably thinking she went off on a tangent, Paul said, "I know you're confused and want answers, but please believe me when I tell you that _you don't want to know_." Paul knew her little rant was her way of demanding an explanation. "Please, _please _do not go looking for answers."

It was then that she knew with certainty that they were never going to tell her anything. It was also then when she decided she would just have to find it out on her own, even if it meant ignoring Paul's desperate pleas. She couldn't meet his eyes knowing that she was blatantly ignoring his request, but she nodded mutely so he would stop staring at her so intensely. "There's one more thing I have to tell you and then I'm leaving," said Fallon resolutely. "He mentioned Embry and I," she added quickly, just wanting to get it over with so she could go home. "After he compared you guys to wild dogs, he said he was especially anxious to meet Embry. He referred to Embry as my boy," Fallon paused to control the blush threatening to take over her face, "and then he said Embry was the reason why he was here."

She shivered at the thought of what she was about to say next.

"He said _I _was the reason he was here, too. Embry and I."

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Fallon didn't get home until midnight.

After her last confession, Paul broke several pieces of Sam's furniture and then departed. When he ran out the door and slammed it behind him, it shattered. Fallon's mouth dropped in shock, but the rest of the boys didn't give her a chance to process her thoughts. The questions were nonstop. She repeated the story so many times that she could write an entire novel on the subject. When they finally finished grilling her, she had to be 'escorted' home by both Jacob and Quil.

Her body ached for sleep. She just wanted to climb into her warm, comfy bed, but there was something she always had to do before going to sleep. Whenever her dad disappeared for days at a time, she would always check his room just in case he had decided to return. She was disappointed every time.

She was reaching for his doorknob when the bathroom door suddenly opened behind her. She usually didn't scare easily, but the day's events had her on edge. Her first response was to scream bloody murder.

"Woah, kid, calm down. You'll break glass with that noise," her father joked, casually ruffling her hair as he walked past her and into his room.

The front door burst open, and Fallon screamed for the second time that night. Embry had scooped her up in his arms before she even registered it was him that broke down her door. "Are you hurt? What's wrong?" he asked her urgently.

"What the fuck is going on in this madhouse?" Mahalo had come out of his room at her second scream. "And who the hell are you? Put her down," he demanded.

Realizing that nothing sinister was actually going on, Embry put Fallon back on her feet. "I'm sorry," was the only thing Fallon could think to say. "I was—"

"You're Tiffany Call's kid, aren't you?" Mahalo interrupted, taking Fallon's hand and pulling her back behind him.

"Yes, sir," muttered Embry, looking weary.

"Get out," Mahalo said sharply.

"_Dad_," Fallon gasped, surprised at his blatantly rude behavior. She didn't know why or how Embry knew that she had screamed, but she also knew he wasn't here to hurt either of them. She felt her face grow hot, but for the first time it wasn't because she was embarrassed. She was angry. No, she was _furious_.

Embry took a step back, holding both his hands up in surrender. "I understand why you want me gone, Mr. Lahote. Sam said this wouldn't be easy, but you have to believe me when I say I'm only here to protect your daughter."

"No," Mahalo spat, "I don't want you or the rest of your gang's _protection_."

Embry sighed and backed the rest of the way out the front door. He'd disappeared into the darkness a second later. Fallon rounded on her father at once. "How _dare _you? You have the nerve to disappear for _weeks _and when you finally do return you act like you have the right to be a goddamn _asshole_. It's ridiculous."

Mahalo looked at her calmly, unaffected by her outburst. It was the first time she'd ever spoken to him in that manner and he didn't even care. "I do have the _right_, Fallon, because I'm your father," he told her. He tried to pass by her, but Fallon purposely stepped in his way.

"Since when?" she practically hissed at him. "You gave up the right to tell me what to do the first time you walked out that door and didn't come back for a month." She pushed past him and quickly went into her room. She slammed the door and turned on the radio. She didn't want Mahalo to hear her sobbing.

It wasn't until she heard raised voices in the living room that she finally stopped crying. She turned off the radio and listened, scrubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She didn't have to crack her door to better hear what was going on, because the voices were so loud that they easily penetrated her room.

"I said no, Paul, for the last fucking time," her father was shouting.

"It's not up to you anymore, Dad," Paul screamed back just as loud. "The Council has intervened. They want to tell her the truth for her own protection. Sam talked to them this afternoon after the sighting."

Mahalo lowered his voice slightly, asking, "There was a sighting?"

"Yeah, and you'd know that if you were ever home. It was _your _daughter that spotted it in the woods. Apparently, it claims it's here _for her_ and Embry. Don't you get it, Dad? Keeping her in the dark like this is going to get her killed. She _needs _to know what she's up against. Her ignorance will _kill her_."

Fallon was holding her breath at this point, with her ear pressed against the door. She flinched when she heard the all too familiar sound of the back of her father's hand hitting her brother's face. It had been months since she'd heard it, but the sound was something she could never forget. She quietly slipped out of her room and inched her way towards the living room. She was incredibly stealthy; it had something to do with her genes, but both her brother and father had excellent hearing so she always had to be careful. Excellent hearing was a trait she unfortunately didn't inherit from her father. She would've run in to the living room immediately to stop her father from touching her brother again, but her curiosity held her in place. She might never hear any of this again and the minute they knew she was there the fight would be over.

It was a good thing Fallon had left her room, because her father's next words were a deadly whisper she wouldn't have heard otherwise.

"Are you seriously telling me that you let our little girl get close to a bloodsucker? You were supposed to keep an eye on her, Paul. You were supposed to _protect _her. The one responsibility I ask of you and you fuck it up. Typical."

"'The one responsibility' you gave me?" Paul asked with a sarcastic laugh. "Fuck you, Dad. I _raised _that little girl. Her entire life has been my responsibility. I've been protecting her from _everything_ since we were kids. It should be _my_ choice whether or not we tell her about the pack."

There was that word again: pack. _But what does it mean?_ Fallon wondered. _And what the hell sucks blood?_ She couldn't take it anymore. The need to understand what was happening in La Push was eating away at her. Her curiosity always did get her into trouble. She could just walk back to her room and forget any of this ever happened. She would forget all about the strange man in the woods and go back to her old life with Parker. A part of her wanted to do just that so badly, but it was too late now. She was in too deep. She _had _to know.

Fallon pushed open the living room door and stepped inside.

END OF PART ONE

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**AN: **Just to give you all a little teaser of the next part of the story for being so awesome - Mahalo is more of a central character in Part Two. We discover more about his past, which is key to understanding why he dislikes the pack so much. This part of the story will include much more Embry/Fallon time, because it will be the beginning of their relationship. Parker will also resurface again! I will update soon!


	11. First Interlude

**AN: **To avoid any confusion, in this snippet the ages are as follows:

Josh is 22 years old, 5 years older than Mahalo, Celeste, and Tiffany, who are all 17.

(4 years previous, Josh married his high school sweetheart Allison right after graduation at 18. They had Sam that same year, so during this campfire scene Josh has a 4 year old son waiting for him at home.)

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_**INTERLUDE**_

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18 YEARS AGO

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She had beautiful eyes, more golden than brown, high cheekbones, long dark hair, and such soft skin. She was made up of adjacent lines and curves, long legs, slender arms and hands, and a lean torso. He watched her from a distance as she sketched the waves crashing in front of her. She had her toes in the sand and her hair in a loose ponytail. He longed to pull her ponytail loose as he _finally_ got to kiss her. Those cherry red lips pursed in concentration were all he could think about these days.

"Hey, Lester!"

The sound of her name coming from another's lips caught him off guard. He glanced over and saw a girl approaching Lester, who had now gotten to her feet. The two hugged and then walked arm-in-arm back to a group of waiting teens. He glanced up at the sky and realized it was almost nightfall, so the campfire would be starting soon. He sighed in frustration at having his time watching Lester cut short.

He quickly circled around and got to the spot where the campfires were held before the group got back. He sat down on a log and waited. "Halo!" his best friend, Josh, shouted only minutes later. He sat down next to him on the log. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Lester sat down with her friend Tiffany in the sand nearby. Josh elbowed him and smirked knowingly. "I don't know why you try to hide it, Halo. Everyone knows already," he said.

"Knows what?" he asked gruffly, already knowing the answer.

Josh rolled his eyes, seeing straight through him. "They all know you're like in love with Celeste Black, so why don't you just admit it and do us all a favor?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he grunted. He could feel the familiar rumblings of anger forming deep in his chest, but he ignored it.

"Oh, come on, Mahalo. We all know you write 'Mrs. Celeste Lahote' in all of your notebooks at school," chortled Josh. Mahalo felt the anger rising in his throat, but he pushed it down. "Lester and Halo sitting in a tree—" Josh began in a singsong voice.

Mahalo punched him square in the nose.

He realized everyone was staring at him once Josh let out a strangled cry of shock. The two boys fought each other all the time; they were always competing and trying to outshine the other. This was different, though. The punch was unnaturally strong. Mahalo stared at his hand, still balled up into a fist, in confusion.

As if somehow knowing she was staring at him, Mahalo looked up and met Lester's eyes. He saw the disappointment in her gaze. He felt something snap inside of him. He couldn't handle it. He couldn't have her looking at him like he was some kind of animal. He quickly fled into the nearby woods.

He ran until his exhaustion took the place of his anger. It was his anger that fueled his running, which is probably why he was Quileute Tribal School's star runner. He was always angry, especially these days.

Nobody understood. He did love Celeste Black with all of his heart, but her family was trying to keep them apart. They wanted her to marry someone 'more suitable' for her, as they had told him earlier that summer. In reality, they just wanted her to marry someone from one of the original families. If it weren't for Billy, Lester's older brother, helping them sneak around together it never would have worked.

It's not like he chose to fall in love with her. At first, he fought it. He had a reputation to protect, and loving her would ruin it. Lester didn't like him, either. She only thought of him as a bullying smart-ass punk. They started to see each other in a different light towards the end of their sophomore year. They both were obsessed with surfing, so they were always out on the water. They used to verbally spar with each other for the perfect spot, but somehow it ended up with them making out. They'd been seeing each other secretly ever since. Unfortunately, her father finally caught them together. He made his feelings perfectly clear on the matter. He even sent Lester away for the last month of summer to stay with her aunt on a different reservation.

Senior year started tomorrow, so they had to bring her back. This was the first time he'd seen her all month and he'd already disappointed her.

"Mahalo?"

He whipped around to see none other than Lester herself pushing through the bushes to reach him. He didn't wait for her to speak. He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. "Missed you," he murmured.

Lester looked up at him with a small smile. "Ditto," she muttered, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

He never wanted to pull away, not even for air, but something wet had touched his cheek. "Why are you crying? What's wrong?" he asked, immediately worried.

"I have to tell you something and it's going to ruin everything." She hesitated for a long moment, before blurting, "I'm pregnant. I found out a couple days after I left."

The words didn't register in his mid at first. It took several minutes of her convincing him that it was true for him to believe it. When he finally wrapped his mind around the idea that he was going to be a father, he asked, "Will you marry me?"

"What?" Lester asked, her eyes going big.

He took her hand and said, "We'll go to the council together. You know this is going to change things. They wouldn't want to cause a scandal by leaving you unmarried. Your parents might cut you off, but Les, we can make this work. We could be a _family_."

She absently touched her stomach, clearly pondering his crazy idea. Two seventeen-year-old high school seniors getting married was a crazy thought. He knew what he had to do to convince her he was serious.

Mahalo got down on one knee, just like he saw in the movies. He was still holding her hand in his own. "Lester, I love you. I never thought I was even _capable_ of love before I met you. This baby might be the reason why we're getting married so soon, but it's not the reason why we're getting married. Five years from now, maybe even ten, I would have been in this same position. If I had to wait twenty years to have the privilege of calling you my wife, I would have happily waited. Fuck your parents and fuck what the town thinks, they've been gossiping about us anyways. Marry me because I love you and want to make you happy, not because you think it's the 'proper' thing to do. You're everything I ever dreamed of—"

Lester cut him off short by grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him to his feet, kissing him wildly the entire time. When she finally released him, she whispered, "Yes, I'll marry you. Not because it's what is expected of a classy young lady, but because I fucking love the shit out of you."

Mahalo laughed heartily. She was the only girl he'd ever met with a worse sailor's mouth than his own. She was even the only girl—no, _person_—that made him laugh. He'd never been so happy in his life.

He took her hand and they confidently walked back to the campfire, where all hell broke loose at their arrival.

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**AN: **I hope you enjoyed this little snippet! Through out the rest of the story bits and pieces of Mahalo's past will be revealed. This little part wasn't really necessary for the plot of my story since you already know how they got married, but I felt you guys needed to understand how much he loved her.

Make sure to pay attention to these little snippets, because they might be giving away clues as to what's going on in the present. ;)


	12. Tell Me Everything

_**CHAPTER TEN**_

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"Go back to your room, Fallon," her father Mahalo immediately ordered once she stepped into the living room. As she had predicted, the fight paused at her arrival.

"No," she said resolutely, crossing her arms. "I've heard everything and now I want to understand what it is I'm hearing. Why am I in danger? From whom?"

Fallon was looking at Paul while she spoke. He was standing behind their father, partially hidden by his enormous form. Both boys were larger than most, something Fallon had never understood since she was hardly considered someone of normal stature. Shouldn't she be tall, too? Paul met her determined gaze. When he went to step in front of their father, presumably to go to Fallon, he was roughly rebutted.

"I said _no_, Paul, goddammit," said Mahalo furiously. "I _am _your father and you _will _respect my wishes."

"Just stop it," Fallon interjected shrilly, glaring at her father. "Stop fighting with Paul and listen to him for once. He's been more of a father to me than you have ever been—" She saw that Mahalo was about to object, so she cut him off swiftly. "_Let me finish_. He's been more than just a brother to me, he's _raised_ me, so wouldn't you agree that he loves me? Wouldn't you think he'd only want what's best for me? If my brother says it's important for me to know something, than _it's goddamn important._ I trust his judgment more than I trust yours, so no matter what you do to stop him I _will _find out what he wants to tell me."

Fallon stopped her speech short when she noticed the look in her father's eyes. It was the wild, uncontrollable anger that all Lahote men were cursed with possessing shining back at her in his eyes. For a second, she actually feared her father might strike her. He had never laid a hand on her before, but he'd never looked at her like that before either. As suddenly as it had come, it left. She was surprised to see a blank sort of sadness replacing the anger. Without looking at either of them, he went out the front door. She heard the sound of her father's motorcycle starting up.

And then he was gone.

She let out a deep sigh of relief, not realizing that she'd been subconsciously holding her breath the entire time. Paul seemed as equally relieved. He fell back on the couch and leisurely stretched himself across it. "Sit down, Bugs," he said after a minute.

She obediently sat down on the chair across from him. She was almost shaking with anticipation. She'd been waiting to have this conversation with Paul for what seemed like forever. She was finally going to understand everything.

"Well, I guess the best way to do this is to just dive right in," Paul said to himself as he cleared his throat. "We don't yet know _why _you're in danger, but we do know _what _from. It was a vampire you met that day in the woods. It's the one that's threatening you and the rest of La Push."

"Right," Fallon said, nodding her head, "and you turn into a flying unicorn every other Tuesday. Makes perfect sense."

Paul had the nerve to laugh at her joke. She'd been expecting the truth, but instead Paul was teasing her with ridiculous lies. "I knew this wouldn't be easy," he muttered. "Fallon, everything I'm saying to you right now is the _truth_. I swear on our mother's grave. Listen, do you remember the old La Push legends we were told as kids?"

"Yeah, of course," Fallon huffed impatiently, "but what's that got to do with anything? If you're just going to jerk me around I'm—"

"I'm a werewolf, Bugs," Paul said quietly, interrupting her mid-sentence.

"You _really _expect me to believe this bull?"

"No," Paul answered honestly, "I taught you better than that, but I can prove it toyou. Only if you're up for it, of course, and promise not to freak out."

Fallon rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Paul," she grumbled. She got out of her seat and started to leave the room. If he wasn't going to take this seriously, then she wasn't going to continue to sit here and listen to him. Something wet touched the back of her head. Believing it to be Paul, she said, "Paul, just forget about—"

She had turned around to come face to face with a giant wolf. Her first reaction was terror and she immediately froze in place. The wolf made some sort of whimpering sound before bowing its head slightly to look her directly in the eye. Without thinking about it, she impulsively reached up at patted the wolf on the head. It made a deep rumbling sound, an obvious sign of pleasure. She finally got up the courage to look it in the eyes; afraid that what Paul said had been true.

She knew at once he hadn't been lying. She saw her brother in the wolf's eyes as easily as she could see that the sky was blue. It had every golden speck that Paul's did feathering its irises, growing darker towards the edges in the exact same way as her brother's. It was Paul. _He _was Paul. She hesitantly reached up and patted him on the head again. This time it felt like the most natural thing in the world. For a second she forgot about how crazy this all seemed and just went with her gut.

He was Paul, and Paul was a werewolf.

Paul must've noticed the acceptance in her eyes, because he licked the side of her face with a wolfish grin. "Ew, Paul," she complained, wiping away the slobber. After saying his name out loud, the truth was cemented in her brain.

The lean, grey wolf trotted back behind the couch, hiding the lower part of his body from Fallon. She then watched in awed humility while the wolf became her brother once again. She realized why he had hidden; once he was himself again he was completely naked. He reached over the couch and grabbed his pants, unabashed in every way. Once he was dressed he came around and returned to his seat.

As if this were a daily, normal occurrence, Fallon returned to her seat as well. They sat in silence. Paul was patiently letting her gather thoughts. Once she'd regained the ability to speak, she said, "So, werewolves, huh?"

Paul smiled. She hadn't seen a real, big-toothed grin from her brother in so long that the sight of it now had her smiling just as big. "I knew once you saw, you'd believe me easily. It's in our blood, kid. You're body recognizes it as the truth, it's just the brain you have to convince."

"Yeah, well, my brain's still trying to process it," she joked weakly.

"I understand. Would you like to stop? We can finish this later," Paul told her.

Fallon considered his offer, but she knew she'd rather hear it all right now. "No," she sighed, "tell me everything."

**.**

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**.**

When Paul left a few hours later to rejoin his 'pack,' as she had discovered it was called, Fallon was still processing all of this new information. Paul had retold her the legends she'd once heard as a child. He'd highlighted all of the parts she'd once believed to be completely imaginary.

She learned that the 'cold ones' referred to in the legends were in fact vampires. She had a harder time believing this truth than anything else he'd told her. Although, when she thought of creepy Marcel, it was a bit easier to believe. Fallon actually liked the idea of La Push having protectors, because it made her feel a bit safer. She wasn't any less terrified about the 'bloodsucker' on her trail, however.

It was a lot to take in, but she was surprisingly okay with it all. Paul had explained bloodlines to her, so she knew she had wolf in her blood. She thought that might be the reason why this almost seemed normal to her. And it _did_ seem normal. It felt like she'd already known deep down, but had somehow forgotten. Now that Paul had told her, it was like being reminded and feeling at ease with the knowledge.

The first person besides Paul she thought about when considering the La Push pack was Embry. Paul had told her all of the guys that hung around Sam were a part of the pack, so she knew it had to be true. He didn't go in to details about the pack, but she didn't press the matter. She knew it was an honor to have as much knowledge as she did now and she wasn't going to press her luck. Paul also told her that the vampire might be able to read her thoughts, so it would be dangerous for her to know too much about the pack. Apparently, the vampire's magic doesn't work on werewolves.

She did learn _a lot _about the vampires. As hesitant as he was describing the werewolves, he was completely the opposite when it came to vampires. He told her everything the pack knew about the bloodsuckers, even the things they weren't sure about. Sam wanted her completely informed on the subject, so she could better protect herself. The council agreed. It was weird to think about the leaders of the reservation being privy to all of this information, but it made sense. They knew everything that went on in this town and they could intervene in any situation they deemed worthy. They were the law as far as the reservation was concerned.

Parker was away on a soccer trip, but he would be back home in time for school tomorrow. For once, she wasn't eager for him to return. She had no idea how she was going to keep this a secret from him. They told each other everything. Paul had been adamant about keeping mum on the subject, so she knew telling him wasn't an option.

When she climbed into bed that night, utterly exhausted from the day's events, she peeked out her window. She knew that somewhere in the woods surrounding her house, two wolves were on patrol. Paul had told her that she'd always have at least one of the pack members around until she was safe again.

She hoped Embry was one of them.


	13. Just The Smiling Girl With A Rose

**AN:** Hello, all! In this chapter I begin my mini-flashbacks. Whenever there's an italicized paragraph with lines separating it from the rest of the story, recognize it as one of these flashbacks. These sections are meant to leave you with more questions than answers, so you're supposed to be left confused!

Sometimes I will give you context clues as to where and when the flashback takes place, but most of the time I will not. These flashbacks will sometimes reveal _incredibly _important secrets, one of which is the source of Mahalo's hatred for the pack and his desire to keep Fallon away from it. By the end of the story, I promise every lingering question you might have will be answered.

Happy reading!

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_**CHAPTER ELEVEN**_

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The day spring semester started, Fallon Lahote left her house in the early hours of the morning. She was trying to avoid her best friend and she didn't know what else to do. Now equipped with the knowledge she had so desperately wanted to know, she also had new responsibilities. One of which was to not tell a soul about the pack. It pained her more than anything to be barred from telling Parker what she knew. From the moment she learned the truth that was all she had wanted to do.

When she reached Quileute Tribal School an hour early, she parked her bike in the empty rack and made her way to the art department. She never bothered to lock it, because no one steals in La Push.

Once amidst the familiar smells of used erasers and fresh paint, Fallon's body relaxed. She felt at home here amongst the easels and paintbrushes. Her hand had itched to paint since she first saw Paul as a wolf. She wanted to capture the awe she had felt at seeing him for the first time. She'd never seen anything as majestic and beautiful.

Before setting up her brushes and paint, she reached into her pocket and lifted out an old piece of paper. It was creased where it had been folded numerous times and had yellowed a bit with age. It was a beautiful sketch of the ocean and cliffs in La Push. There were two silhouettes holding hands off to the side, looking out into the sunset. Her mother signed the bottom right-hand corner in a big, loopy scrawl. She'd found it in her father's room while playing hide and seek as a kid. Ever since then, anytime she felt the urge to draw she would pull out her mother's picture. It didn't help her draw or anything, but it gave her comfort to see it sitting beside her own artwork. It was almost like having her mother there with her, supporting her.

She was so lost in her work that she hadn't noticed the classroom slowly filling up with students. One, in particular, had been standing behind her for a while now, observing her quietly. She realized whom once he leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "I have another black spot behind my ear."

A familiar woodsy scent with sharp spicy undertones wafted over her. "Embry," she said quietly, almost to herself. She then looked down at her drawing. She had just begun painting it, starting with the wolf first. He stood just outside of the trees, looking regal and dangerous. Her brow furrowed when she realized it wasn't her brother that she was drawing. In his wolf form, Paul was dark silver and much more substantial than this wolf. She'd subconsciously drawn a slender wolf, and now she was painting him light silver with black spots sporadically covering his sleek coat.

Embry's words had dawned on her; she was painting Embry in his wolf form. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, whispering back, "But how could I have known? I've never even seen you as—well, _a you know what_."

He smiled at her and then shrugged. Cringles formed by Embry's eyes when he smiled, she noticed. "It's magic," he said in a faux tone of mystery.

She frowned. Even when she was finally let in on the secret, there were still things they weren't telling her. She knew Embry had an idea of what this meant, but he was just choosing not to tell her. "I think I have the right to know why I'm being connected to you," she said as she gathered her things. "If this _thing _is after me because of you, shouldn't I at least know why?" Embry's smile crumpled, immediately making Fallon regret her words. She wouldn't take them back, however. She couldn't turn into a puddle of goo every time Embry Call blinked his pretty brown eyes at her.

"It's not safe," he said earnestly. "I swear I'd tell you if I could, but I can't."

* * *

_The two boys faced each other on top of the highest cliff in La Push, wind raging around them forebodingly. The events of tonight would change everything, not that either of them was aware. The only thing they were aware of was their hatred for one another. This hatred pumped through their veins, threatening the human bodies they held onto to transforming into another form. Neither was sure of how much longer he could hold on. The thirst for blood was overwhelming._

* * *

"Fine," Fallon said stiffly, slinging her satchel over her shoulder. She turned and walked out of the classroom. She didn't want to be late for first period. The sad look on Embry's face haunted her while she attempted to take her math test, but she ignored it.

Fallon cautiously peeked out of the classroom door after the bell ran, signaling the end of third period. So far she'd done a good job of avoiding Parker, but she knew her luck couldn't last all day. She darted to the art classroom, sighing in relief when she made it there without running into him. Her next period was lunch, so she knew seeing Parker would be inevitable, but she couldn't help but to keep putting it off for as long as she could. Hopefully he'd be too busy stuffing his face to ask many questions.

She pulled out the painting she had started before school began, planning on finishing during this period, when something else caught her eye. Students left completed work on a table in the right hand corner to be graded before being able to take it home. Sitting on top of the rest of the artwork was a beautifully drawn portrait. Putting her wolf painting down on her desk, she slowly made her way to the table.

She lifted the parchment into the light.

The girl was depicted quite beautifully, with her swirling brown hair reaching past her shoulder blades and her button-like nose sprinkled lightly with freckles. Her hair was the color of the bark on the trees; her cheeks as rosy as the single red flower she held in her hand. Her skin was smooth and creamy with splashes of freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. Her eyes were ablaze with laughter, the dark blues mixing with the gold in her right eye, with the left colored a shining hazelnut brown. In the portrait, she was laughing jovially, her lips parted ever so slightly. There was no background drawn, just the smiling girl with a rose.

It was Fallon.

She knew it had to be her; the resemblance was too striking for it not to be. Especially since she was the only one with two different colored eyes in La Push. Years ago an accident involving 'swords,' which in reality were just thin branches, caused this change in color. Parker had stuck her in the eye while they were dueling as kids. Luckily Paul was nearby and got her to the hospital in time for them to save her from losing sight in her right eye, but the color never changed back.

"Miss Lahote, if you would please take your seat I would like to start class," a voice said behind her, making her jump in shock. She'd been so lost in looking at the portrait of herself to notice that the bell had rung and class had started.

"Sorry, sir," she mumbled, quickly returning to her seat, sans the portrait.

For the first time in her life, Fallon couldn't pay attention in her art class. Today they were learning about three-dimension drawing, but she'd tuned out the moment she knew she wouldn't have a free period to paint. She usually liked to learn about painting techniques and styles, but her mind kept wandering back to the painting.

She wasn't completely sure who had done it, but the most logical choice was Embry or her brother. She knew Parker only drew stick figures, so it definitely wasn't him. It would also be very uncharacteristic of Paul to paint it, which only left Embry.

As she walked to lunch, she thought about Embry and how little she actually knew about him. She thought about him all the time, but she didn't _really_ know the first thing about him. She found herself longing to learn more about Embry Call, which surprised her a little. She wasn't as surprised as she was in the beginning, because now thinking about him was such a daily routine of hers that she had just accepted it as normal. She was so lost in her thoughts that it took her halfway through lunch to realize Parker was missing from his usual seat beside her.

She glanced around at where Embry usually sat, but found the table eerily empty, with only Jared left chewing on his burger. Paul, Jacob, and Quil were missing.

Fallon grabbed her lunch tray and walked purposely over to Jared. He watched her approaching, looking wearier and wearier the closer she got. "Look, rabbit, before you even say anything, let me tell you now that I _can't _answer your question," said Jared, as Fallon settled herself in the seat next to him. "So I wouldn't bother asking," he added.

"Actually, _stinker_—" she began, making sure to emphasize the nickname Jared earned when he'd fallen into horse manure years ago, "—I was just going to ask if you knew anything about the soccer trip the team just went on, since, you know, you used to play for them and all." Her bitchy sarcasm couldn't be helped, because she was tired of hearing about even _more_ secrets she wasn't _allowed _to know.

"Oh, sorry," Jared muttered, embarrassed. "Um, yeah, they won their game in Tacoma so they qualified for the tournament. I'm guessing they're driving there now."

As much as she'd been avoiding Parker, her shoulders shagged slightly at the thought of not seeing him for another two weeks. "Great. Thanks," she mumbled.

They finished the rest of their lunch in silence.


	14. The World Was Spinning Around Her

**AN: **This is a long one, but I think it gives you a lot of missing information you might want to know! There's also something that bothers me about these types of stories. The main couple always seems to have shallow conversations and then _zap _they're in love. Embry and Fallon have deep, meaningful conversations, which is what they build their entire relationship on. Anyways, happy reading!

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_**CHAPTER TWELVE**_

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The sun that had been absent throughout the gloomy day was out now. Light was filtering through the trees and casting shadows across the sand, and birds were chirping pleasantly in the sunlit branches. The day seemed to become a bit brighter and happier. The familiar smell of wood smoke drifting in the breeze reached Fallon. This smell, mixed with salty breath of the sea was what brought her out here every day. Moments like this were what made Fallon the happiest.

She wrapped her hair around her hand and pulled it up into a loose ponytail. The wind was blowing much harder than usual today and her long hair had been flapping about her face annoyingly. She sat back on her hands, slipping off her flip-flops to allow her toes to curl in the sand. For a moment, she fancied the idea of staying on this beach forever. She shut her eyes, imagining a life without the drama, secrets, and heartbreak hers centered around now. The moment passed quickly, though, like a fleeting dream you can't remember the next morning. She sighed.

At some point during her ponderings Embry had joined her on the sand, quietly watching the waves until she was ready to speak. Usually, someone interrupting her 'me' time would've annoyed her, but with Embry she surprisingly didn't mind. "Once when I was really little," she started softly, hesitantly, "my dad told me that there's magic in the wind, and that if you listen hard enough it will tell you what you want to hear. Even at six years old I knew it was just the liquor talking. I always was a practical child. I never believed in magic before all of _this_ happened."

She didn't look at Embry while she spoke. She'd never been so open with anyone besides Paul and Parker before, and the thought of doing so right now terrified her. She _especially_ didn't talk to anyone about her father's drinking. It made her feel vulnerable, as though she were exposed. She held her breath until Embry spoke.

"I was the same way as a kid," he said, just as equally softly. He picked up a nearby stick and started drawing patterns in the sand. "I _had_ to be. My mom was nineteen when she got pregnant, only two years after your mother had Paul. She refused to tell anyone the father's name, so her parents sent her to live with her aunt at the Makah reservation. Nobody knew at the time that she was pregnant, so they saw this as a good way to avoid shaming the family name. Nineteen, unwed, and pregnant was just unacceptable in the council's eyes. No one would notice if Tiffany Call disappeared for a while. That's where my mom started community college. She always says it was a blessing in disguise, because she wasn't sure she would've gone to college otherwise."

Fallon's eyebrows rose slightly, surprised at what he was telling her. She felt honored that he considered her someone worthy to confide in. She waited for him to continue, somehow knowing that he was not finished speaking yet.

"She graduated while still living there, even starting medical school soon after. I was five or six when she finally came home. Her arrival with me in tow did cause a bit of a stir, but the gossip died down quickly as it had already been several years since I was born. They were also proud they had one of their own attending medical school so they forgot all about her sordid past and instead boasted about 'someone from La Push making it big.'" He looked over at her and added, "Your mom was the only person my mom ever confided in, you know. They were best friends."

Fallon smiled slightly at the thought of their mothers growing up together. "I had no idea," she then said softly. She looked into his eyes and knew he understood that she wasn't just talking about their moms being friends. She thought about the past and how much she had wrongly judged Embry. She remembered a time when she only thought of Embry as a spoiled rich kid that acted like an ass just because he knew he could get away with it. She'd known Tiffany Call had made her own money as a brilliant surgeon working her way up the corporate ladder, but she had no idea how many struggles she had to overcome to reach her goal. "Your mom's pretty amazing," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, she is," Embry agreed, "which is why it's so hard for me to keep lying about why I'm sneaking out at night. She thinks I'm on drugs or something."

"That's ridiculous," said Fallon immediately, unable to imagine Embry doing such a thing. She thought he might smoke a joint every once and a while or on special occasions, but nothing anymore serious.

Fallon chanced a quick glance at Embry and was a little put-off when she discovered he hadn't been staring at her the way he usually did. She immediately felt stupid after thinking such a silly thing, but she had started warming up to the new Embry. The Embry that looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world; the Embry that truly _listened _to her when she spoke; the Embry that was slowly worming his way into her heart. She hadn't let anyone this close since she met Parker.

"I'm so sorry, Fallon." Embry said the words so quietly that at first she wasn't sure she heard correctly. When he turned to look at her directly, she swore she saw tears in his eyes before he hurriedly blinked them away. She took his hand without thinking about it, feeling unnaturally upset to see him so sad. "I just came here to tell you goodbye," he said next, completely flooring her. "You're right. I've put you in far too much danger as it is already. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you, so I'm leaving. Sam agrees that it's the best option we have right now, especially since we don't know what the vampire wants with us. He thinks this will keep you safe."

Embry carefully took his hand out from under hers, clenching it in his lap.

Fallon couldn't breathe. She felt like something vital to her survival had been forcefully ripped from her, leaving her unable to function. She didn't understand why it took Embry's leaving La Push to make her realize how much she needed him here with her, but now that she realized it she couldn't let him go.

"Fallon?" Embry asked softly, worried by her silence.

She finally managed to say one word: "No."

Embry's eyes widened a bit, but she didn't give him any time to think about it further. In one swift movement she was straddling his lap with her forehead pressed against his, their noses barely touching. "_No_," she said again, this time with all of the emotion she had in her body behind it.

Embry wordlessly placed a hand on either side of her face, pulling her closer to him. She'd never yearned to kiss a boy more than she did right now. She shut her eyes so she could just _feel _him as he slowly brought his fingers across her face, leaving a blazing trail behind. When he reached her chin he grasped it firmly in his hands, angling it upwards towards his face.

And then he kissed her.

Their lips just briefly touch the first time, both of them cautious, excited, and scared. This only lasts a moment, though, before he's _really _kissing her. His lips are soft yet urgent against hers, eagerly pulling her deeper into the kiss. He tastes like cinnamon from his bagel this morning and his woodsy scent has never been so strong. She could sit here all day just kissing him and taking him all in; his smell, his taste, his voice, _everything_. She felt like the world was spinning around her faster and faster with Embry at its center, keeping her grounded and safe. She'd never felt more alive.

When they finally pulled apart, her hair was messy and her lips red and aching from kissing so hard, but she'd never felt better. The uneasy feeling she'd had since Embry told her he was leaving was completely gone, replaced with a tingling sensation in her stomach. She felt so light that she thought she could lift into the air with happiness.

Embry was the first to speak. He helped her get resettled on the log beside him, and then said, "I guess leaving isn't an option anymore."

"Nope," said Fallon, shaking her head, "I told you 'no' and I meant it. I don't know what poppycock you're going on about by 'putting me in danger,' but it's not true. I've never felt safer than I do with you. I was just frustrated when I said that."

Embry seemed to radiate happiness. As though he were unable to control himself, he got to his feet and ran after some birds on the beach, whooping and hollering. Fallon laughed at the sight, imagining Embry as a small excitable puppy that had just been given a bone for the first time. When he came back to her moments later, he lifted her off her feet and into his arms, kissing her again and again. He twirled them around and around, easily lifting Fallon higher into the air.

They were laughing so much that it took them a moment to realize they were no longer alone. Embry carefully put Fallon back on the ground, looking sheepish like a little kid just caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

Mahalo stood there calmly as he waited for the couple to gather themselves. "When Paul told me that I could find you here, I first thought of how extraordinarily much you reminded me of your mother," he said after a minute. "She always loved the beach." Fallon had never heard him say _anything _about her mother before. "However, after seeing you publically disgrace yourself with this boy the notion quickly left my head, because your mother never would have done such a thing."

"That isn't true," Fallon rebutted quietly. She knew she shouldn't be pushing her father when he was already in a bad mood, but she couldn't help it. "You got my mom _pregnant _at seventeen, which is much worse than what I'm doing with Embry."

Mahalo's eyebrows rose at his daughter's audacity to speak back to him in such a manner. "Exactly," he said coolly, "which is why I'm preventing you from making the same mistakes we did. Besides, we were in love for a very long time before any of that happened. This boy will bring you nothing but trouble." A strange emotion passed across his face when he added, "He'll be trouble for you just like I was trouble for your mother."

"Why does everyone keep saying that Embry is bad?" Fallon snapped. "He's been nothing but _good _to me. Tell me _one _good reason why I shouldn't be with him."

"Fallon—" Embry started cautiously, but it was too late.

"He will _hurt_ you, Fallon," bellowed Mahalo, his anger boiling in his veins. He started shaking. "He'll hurt you just like I hurt your mother," he added, his voice breaking on the last word. Fallon watched in shock as her father ripped through his clothes, transforming into a giant brown wolf. He howled once and then disappeared into the trees, leaving a pile of tattered clothes behind.

"Impossible," breathed Embry, still holding Fallon back protectively with his arm. "That's impossible," he said again, turning to look at Fallon. "No one was supposed to have transformed in his generation. We're the first ones since our great-great-grandfathers. He shouldn't be a wolf. Why don't we know about this?"

Fallon had slowly walked over to the remains of her father's clothes, kneeling down beside them. Embry was still talking, clearly trying to work this out in his head. "I mean Sam couldn't have known, because if he did _I _would know. He can't keep something like that out of his thoughts. So the council must be the only ones that know, but why would they keep that from us? What secret are they trying to protect?"

Embry must've realized Fallon was no longer listening, because he shut up and knelt down beside her. "Are you okay, Fallon?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine," she choked out, but the minute she said the words she had started crying. She angrily rubbed her eyes, trying to stop herself. She didn't want to cry in front of Embry. She didn't want him to see her looking like a mess.

Embry didn't say anything. He just scooped her up into his arms, holding her close against his chest. He held her until her tears finally slowed. Once they did, she looked up at him. "You realize what this means, right?" she asked quietly.

"What does it mean?"

"It means that he—he—I think he killed my mother, Embry."

* * *

**AN:** Now, don't go hating Mahalo just yet. He's actually my favorite character, probably because I always feel bad for tortured souls. I know most of you guys already think he's pretty shitty, but he might surprise you!

Keep reading and reviewing! You guys are what keeps me updating so quickly. :)


	15. Nothing Else Matters

_**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**_

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_Nobody understood why Joshua Uley and Mahalo Lahote were friends. Sure, they were both reckless hotheads with egos the size of the state of Texas, but their differences outweighed their similarities by a twofold. Josh was not only five years older, but also a married man with a son. His life was _completely _different than the high school senior he called his best friend, so why _were_ they friends?_

_For the first two years Lester was married to Mahalo, she had absolutely no idea why the two were friends. Most of the time, they didn't even _like_ each other. Their personalities were too similar, causing them to bicker about the stupidest things. It was almost like they were brothers forced to get along. When they would disappear together for hours—even _days_—at a time, Lester was left wondering where they had gone. That didn't mean she wasn't _trying_ to find out what it was they were doing, but it so happened that the one day she actually _wasn'_t snooping for once she stumbled upon the truth._

_It happened the day she found out was pregnant with her second child. She left two-year-old Paul with her brother Billy while she went out to find her husband to tell him the good news. The first place she checked was the Uley household. She didn't really get along with his wife Allison, so she bypassed the front door and headed around back._

_She hesitated when she heard their voices._

"_Aren't you sick of just waiting around for them to come to us?" Joshua asked heatedly, a tone Lester had heard from him many times._

"_Isn't that the point?" Mahalo responded sarcastically._

"_Would you fucking stop making a joke out of everything I say? I'm tired of you pushing aside my ideas like they're stupid," snapped Joshua._

_This seemed to get a rise out of Mahalo, because his next words were cold, hard, and furious. "Because they _are _stupid, dumbass. You're twenty-four-years-old and married to your high school sweetheart with a six-year-old son that already looks up to you. What more do you _want_, Josh? Isn't that good enough for you?"_

"_Are you kidding me?" Joshua asked with a laugh. "There's _so_ much more. We can be _heroes_, Halo! You and I, we have a _gift_ that we should share with the world. It's practically a sin to waste it by staying here in this dump of a town."_

"_I wish you'd just give the whole vigilante thing a rest," said Mahalo tiredly, "and we aren't _wasting _it here. The reason why we even have this gift is for protecting our home. Our ancestors didn't pass down this ability to have it abused by you."_

"_Abused?" Joshua asked so quietly that Lester had to strain her ears to hear him. "How the fuck is hunting down vampires and ripping out their throats abuse? I thought _that _was the whole fucking point of being a werewolf in the first place."_

"_You just don't get it, do you? We're meant to be _here _with our families, protecting them from any bloodsucker stupid enough to mess with our home. Seeking out vampires just to kill them _isn't _our purpose."_

"_I could just _make _you do it, you know," Joshua said contemptuously. "I'm still the Alpha, even with a two man pack. I could _order _you, kid. You're just the Beta."_

"_Try it," Mahalo answered coolly, "and I'll kill you."_

_That was all Lester needed to hear. She slowly backed away from the fence separating her from the backyard, holding her breath until she was safely away. She then ran all the way back to Billy's house, forgetting completely about telling her husband the good news. He seemed a bit busy at the moment._

* * *

After Fallon had collected herself, Embry took her hand and they left the beach, leaving the scatted remains of Mahalo's clothes behind. "I have to talk to Sam," Embry said apologetically, "but I'll stay with you until you're ready for me to go."

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to go home and take a long bath," Fallon told him, already thinking about how good the warm water would feel. "So you can go now, if you like. I won't mind. I mean I understand how important it is to tell Sam what happened."

"Okay, but I'm not leaving until Quil gets here. He's the next one on babysitting duty," he joked, playfully bumping into her with his butt.

She couldn't help but to smile. Embry had a way of making her feel better even when she was the most upset. It was strange. She felt like she'd known him her whole life and was comfortable around him just like she was around Parker. "How _did _you get to see me today? I'm sure Sam wouldn't put you on guard duty when he wants you to stay away from me," she said.

"Well, I was supposed to be telling you good-bye, remember? As a matter of fact, Sam won't be too pleased about the change of plans," Embry responded.

They had reached the top of the winding path that had led them down to the beach. Embry followed Fallon inside her house, knowing that Mahalo wouldn't be back so soon. "We _should _talk about what your father said," Embry said as they settled down onto the couch. "The part about me hurting you, I mean."

"Don't be ridiculous," Fallon scoffed immediately.

"Fallon, I'm serious," Embry said quietly. "The council, Sam, _and_ your dad all agree that I'm a danger to you, and they're not completely wrong. Wolves, especially young wolves like me, are unpredictable. It's not just our senses that are heightened. Our emotions are heightened too. If I were to get too angry around you…"

"I trust you," Fallon insisted. "You wouldn't hurt me."

"It has nothing to do with trust. I _will _transform if I get too angry, there's no stopping it. I have little control over my own body, especially since I haven't even mastered controlling my emotions yet. It takes _years _for that to happen. Paul has been a wolf now for two years and he still isn't anywhere near controlling it. That might be because he's a hothead, but it doesn't change the facts. I'm _not _safe for you. The whole reason why you couldn't know about us before was because of the danger we pose."

"We'll be careful, then," Fallon said at once. "Besides, it's not like we're getting married or anything. We just kissed for the first time only an hour ago. We haven't even gone on a date yet, for crissake!"

Embry blushed and messed with his hair, so Fallon knew at once he was embarrassed. Those were the two things he always did when he was nervous.

"There's uh—something else I should tell you," he admitted. "There's something called 'imprinting' that we sometimes do. It hasn't happened in a long time and we still aren't really sure what imprinting entails, but it's definitely written down in the history books. Well, we now know it truly does exist, because I've done it. I imprinted. I imprinted on _you,_ Fallon. You're my imprint."

"Um, okay. What does being your imprint mean?"

Embry mused his hair again, and then cleared his throat several times. "It's kind of like love at first sight, I guess," he mumbled, his face redder than she'd ever seen it before. "The first time I saw you after my transformation my life completely changed. It's like nothing else matters anymore, just you—you and your happiness. We think it's our body's way of telling us who we're most compatible with in order to keep the wolf gene alive. You know, _babies_. It's hard to explain because I don't really understand it myself. The point is that it's dangerous because it's uncharted territory for us. I'm the first one to imprint in many generations of wolves. What makes it so scary is what I feel for you and how _strongly _those feelings can be."

Fallon sat completely still, listening intently. Waiting for him to continue.

"After looking into your eyes, everything was brighter and more colorful—just _amazing_. It was like all my life I'd been seeing the world through foggy glasses, but now that I've met you everything is perfectly clear. It made every emotion I could ever feel a hundred times stronger—I have such _strong _emotions now. You see how that can be dangerous? My body's even _more _uncontrollable now."

Fallon didn't say anything for a long time. When she slowly slipped her hand out from under Embry's without really realizing it, she knew that what she was feeling wasn't misguided. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing nerves. "So, let me get this straight," she said lowly. "Everything that's happened between us these last few weeks wasn't real. You've only spent time with me because you've been forced to by some crazy wolf magic binding you to me forever. Do you even really _like _me?"

Embry desperately grasped both of Fallon's hands in his own, shaking his head profusely. "No, Fallon, that's not what I meant—"

Fallon yanked her hands free and stood. "No, you don't get to say that," she said shrilly. She knew tears would soon follow, because her voice only got high when she was trying to stop them from coming. "All I am to you is an incubator for your future son, to ensure the werewolf gene's survival. You wouldn't have looked at me twice otherwise."

Embry stood too and frantically said, "Please don't cry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"No, it's a good thing," Fallon sniffed, wiping her eyes vigorously. "Now that I know, I won't have to continue investing my heart in a relationship based on producing little baby werewolves. So, thanks."

Embry tried to reach out to her, but she sidestepped him.

"Please just go," she said next, unable to stop the sob from rising in her throat.

"Fallon, please," Embry said desperately.

"Please go," Fallon cried, "if you're supposed to ensure my happiness, you'll go."

She refused to look at him, turning towards the fireplace. She knew when he had gone because she felt like a piece of her had gone with him. She collapsed onto the floor, sobs wracking her body uncontrollably. The first person she'd let in to her heart for a very long time had done the exact thing she'd been trying to prevent all these years.

He'd broken her heart and taken away what little trust she had left in people.

She curled up into a ball and cried harder.

**.**

**.**

**.**

After what seemed like forever, Fallon stopped crying. She was still curled up into a ball by the fireplace, blankly watching the flames dancing with one another.

When she heard a knock at the door, she numbly got to her feet. Normally her intrigue would've been spiked, because no one that came to this house ever knocked. Instead, she felt listless, uncaring. This was probably why she didn't check the peephole.

She regretted it immensely when she swung the door out wide and saw her visitor.

"Hello, young Fallon. I've been _so _looking forward to seeing you again."

Fallon screamed.


	16. I Must Make The First Move, I'm Afraid

**AN: **Okay, so this is a long chapter mostly full of dialogue. Bear with me, the next chapter will be all action! This is all info you want to hear, I promise! I hope this chapter helps answer some of your questions.

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_**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**_

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Fallon's scream lasted no more than a millisecond before the vampire's hand had closed around her mouth, muffling her completely. She watched with wide eyes as he pushed her backward and stepped forward into her house, shutting the door behind him. "Ah, such _knowledge _in your bright, young eyes," Marcel Rosier said sardonically, using his thumb to brush her hair away from her eyes. "I miss the naïve, little Fallon I met in the woods," he said with a sigh, "but of course learning the truth was a necessity. After all, none of my plans would've worked if you remained just a stupid little girl."

Rosier had forced Fallon back into her living room, gently pushing her down into a recliner by the fireplace. He knelt in front of her and brought his face inches away from her own. "Now, little girl, if I remove my hand you must promise not to scream," he told her. "If you do, I'll be forced to break your vocal chords."

He removed his hand slowly. A single tear rolled down Fallon's cheek, but she didn't dare breathe a word. "Very good," Rosier said happily. "I do prefer this version of events much more than the one where I'm forced to hurt you."

Fallon just continued to stare at him evenly. She refused to show him the slightest inclination that she feared him. It was the only thing she _could _do.

"You see, one of your delightful little guard dogs is pacing in the forest, 'guarding' you, I suppose. He's not doing a very good job, eh?" Rosier joked. "It would've been a shame for him to have come in here had you've screamed, because I would've been forced to kill him."

"Okay. I get it. Don't scream. Be afraid. Can you please just get on with it?" Fallon snapped, clenching her fists in her lap angrily.

Rosier tilted his head back and laughed heartily. "I do enjoy that mouth of yours," he said, still chuckling. "I confess it did make watching your dreadfully boring life a bit more interesting."

"If it's so boring, then why are you watching it?" Fallon asked coolly. She knew her best chance of surviving this was to keep him talking and possibly discover the _true _reason he was here. She just had to keep a level head in the meantime.

Rosier laughed again, but this time Fallon detected a dark edge to it. "You humans are so self-centered. It's not all about _you_, dear Fallon. As a matter of fact, you're involvement in my plans is completely coincidental. You're just a means to an end."

"And what end is that?"

A dark look crossed Rosier's face and she immediately sunk lower into her seat. "Now, I think I've been very tolerant thus far, but you are being _too _bold, my dear. I suggest changing that," he said with a thin-lipped smile. Fallon nodded and bit her tongue, something she was never very good at doing. _Stay on his good side, stay on his good side_, she kept repeating to herself.

Rosier turned away from her and begun poking at the fire. She glanced at the door, but Rosier said evenly, "Don't even think about it, dear." She stared down at her folded hands instead. "I didn't set out to destroy your life, you know," he said conversationally. "In actuality, I was just checking up on a few interesting rumors I'd heard over the years. I found myself back in America for the first time in fifty years, so naturally I decided to check the truth behind the rumors I'd heard so long ago."

Fallon was barely breathing at this point.

"Do you know the Cullens?" Rosier asked suddenly, turning to look at her.

"Uh—" Fallon thought hard, and then said, "A bit. I just know they're the creepy family in Forks . . . Oh, they're vampires too, _of course_." Now that she thought about it, her brother had mentioned them briefly when he told her the truth about werewolves.

"Very good," Rosier said dryly, obviously being sarcastic, as though she should've already known about the Cullens. "They're not like usual vampires, you see. They're strange, _different_. I was surprised when I discovered the rumors had been true. They abstain from human blood, instead choosing to feed on _animals_."

Rosier's disdain was dripping from every word.

"After studying them from a distance for a while, I soon grew bored. They're lives are even _more _boring than yours, if you can imagine. The way they played human disgusted me. I was actually _leaving_ when I stumbled upon your—_quaint_ town. I was picking up a snack for the journey—" Fallon couldn't stop the shiver from traveling across her body. This time, _she _was disgusted. "You can imagine how surprised I was when giant dogs interrupted me from my lunch. I knew at once they weren't real werewolves, having come across many in my past. I enjoyed killing those werewolves; it was such a fun game. Ah, anyways, I was very intrigued by these _things_. My curiosity as a human was much like yours, so when I became a vampire it was intensified. So, you see, it's not _really _my fault at all for being here."

He smiled at her then. It was a slick, I'm-only-happy-when-I'm-being-evil smile that sent even more shivers through her body.

"Oh, dear, I've forgotten my place. Where was I, again?"

"The part where you told me why _I _am included in all of this mess," Fallon responded. She hoped her attitude wouldn't anger Rosier. To her relief, he only laughed lightly at her, shaking his head as though she were a naughty child.

"Yes, _you_. Your doggie friends are very interesting. Did you know they could communicate through their thoughts when they're in wolf form? I learned so many interesting things by just watching them, but the—_by far_—most interesting thing had to be imprinting," he said, pausing to study her reaction.

She'd completely frozen at hearing the word, unable to react in any way.

He smiled his creepy smile again. "So you've heard of it, then?" he asked with a pompous laugh. "Anyways, this act of 'imprinting' caught my interest in a way that nothing has in over a hundred years. It's _quite _remarkable, you know."

He paused again. He cocked his head to the side as he watched her. "Curious," he murmured. "You don't seem to agree with me."

She didn't say anything, but after several minutes of him just staring at her she realized he was waiting. "Um, yeah, I guess," she stuttered out.

"It irks me the way the young talk today," Rosier said in annoyance. "'Um' is _not _a word, dear, do remember that when you open that pretty little mouth of yours."

"Well, it irks _me _when you say 'you see' and 'you know' at the end of every sentence. I'm not your 'dear,' either," Fallon snapped, for a moment forgetting whom she was speaking to. The way he had admonished her had reminded her of her dad, which always sets her off. To her relief, Rosier only raised his eyebrows at her. It was getting very hard for her to tell what made him mad and when it was okay to 'use that mouth of hers,' as he'd put it. He was kind of bipolar in a way.

Completely disregarding the fact that she'd spoken at all, Rosier continued, "You're wrong, you know. I listened to your little spat with lover boy earlier. I could've killed myself from all of the teenage hormones flying about the room. It's essential that you grow up and realize what's happening here or else my little game won't be very fun at all." He clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in front of Fallon. "Please excuse me, dear, I was a teacher as a human and the habit hasn't quite left me yet. I'm going to teach _you_ something now, young Fallon. In all my years of existence, which, believe me, is a very long time, I have never come across anything as strong as the art of imprinting. And it _is _an art, believe it or not."

Rosier stopped pacing suddenly. To her horror, he bowed slightly to her and asked in a very gentlemanly manner, "Would you care to dance?"

She knew there was only one answer. Numbly, she got to her feet and allowed the vampire to take her hand. He brought her in close, putting his other cold hand around her waist. He began to move them across the room, seemingly uncaring that there wasn't any music playing. "As I was saying, much like the art of dance, imprinting is a very beautiful process. But before I get into that, there's something I should explain about myself first. Vampires are sometimes endowed with certain gifts. I'm one of those vampires, and yet my gift is more abnormal than most. I understand how things work, you see. For example, I know exactly how that grandfather clock by your fireplace works. I'm not talking about understanding its ability to tell time, either. I could easily build one right now if I had the proper materials."

"That doesn't seem like a very good gift," Fallon muttered.

She knew she'd hit a sore spot, because her cheek was stinging before she even finished her sentence. Rosier had slapped her. He'd done it so fast that she didn't even realize it was happening. They were still dancing, even. Rosier twirled her and then pulled her back in much closer than she'd desired. He didn't falter for a second, continuing his story as though nothing had happened.

"I am superb at everything I do. Dancing, singing, swimming, running, you name it and I can do it. My gift allows me to understand _everything_." He pulled her in even closer, looking down at her and whispering, "I can do _anything_ I want. I never fail."

Those words scared her more than anything else he'd said.

"So when I came across your beloved town and the giant dog infestation, my uncontrollable need to know even _more _kept me here. That's the problem with curiosity. It's never satisfied. Anyways, that's when your lover boy first laid eyes on you."

His gaze seemed distant then, as though reliving the memory, when he described what happened next: "I knew instantly what had happened, of course, even though I'd never heard of it before that day. While I was watching your precious pack, it was like I was one of them. That's how my gift works. I understood them so well that I felt like I was a part of it all. It's a remarkable gift, you know. It's how I helped a friend of mine wipe out most of the werewolf population in Europe years ago. I knew their weaknesses, their strengths, their hopes, their desires—I understood it all. Destroying them was too easy. Ah, but that's a story for a different time. Back to you, my dear."

Fallon was barely keeping control over her own body. The more the vampire spoke, the more the fear grew. It was becoming hard to stand on such wobbly legs. She'd been wrong. His gift _was _spectacular. It was so spectacular that he could destroy everything she loved. He could _destroy _Embry.

"As I was watching him imprint on you," Rosier continued, dipping her once and then continuing his dance. "It was like _I _was the one imprinting. For a moment, I believed that _I _was deeply in love with you, a _human_ child. Regardless, I understood everything about the bond between you two."

"But why do you _care_?" Fallon burst out, unable to contain herself any longer. "What does any of this matter to you?"

"Haven't you been listening, you stupid girl? It's like I have to explain every miniscule detail for you to understand. This is the most interesting sport I've had in a while. I have never come across a stronger love in my entire existence. Imagine what fun it will be to _test _that love."

Dread settled in Fallon's stomach as it finally dawned on her what the vampire's ridiculously long speech had been about. He obviously loved to hear himself talk, but that had nothing to do with all the stories he'd been telling her.

Rosier put a cold finger beneath her chin, lifting it. "Ah, finally, you understand. It must be awful for it to take you so long to learn something so simple," he murmured, looking into her eyes. She knew what he saw there: tears. He'd been waiting for a sign that told him she had finally grasped the true horror of the situation.

"It's just a game to you, but you're messing with people's _lives_," she whispered, pleading to any human part left of him.

"Dear, Fallon," Rosier sighed, wiping away one of her tears. "I must make my own entertainment these days. I'm afraid it gets rather boring simply _existing _year after year. Seeing how far Embry will go to save you, when his very _life _is tethered to yours, is too much fun to pass up. We're going to play such fun games together, my dear. Unfortunately, in order for me to start playing, I must make the first move. I have to let the dogs know how serious I am about _winning_, which of course means eventual death for you and all of your friends. As for right now, I need only harm you. I think draining you of most your blood will do the trick."

Fallon started struggling, but it was a fruitless endeavor.

"Let the games begin."

She squeezed her eyes shut as the vampire lowered his mouth to her neck.


	17. She Needed Him

_**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**_

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Fallon still had her eyes squeezed shut when she realized the vampire still hadn't bit her. Slowly, she cracked open one eye. Her other eye opened involuntarily in shock. Rosier's face was one of mirth. He was _laughing _at her.

"Oh, you stupid, stupid girl," Rosier said, still laughing. "Did you _really _think I was going to _bite _you? Making you a vampire is a great privilege that you don't deserve. Besides, it would've ruined my little game. No, I think I'll just—"

Fallon screamed.

**.**

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**.**

Ever since Embry imprinted on Fallon Lahote, the way he looked at everything had completely changed. Instead of being near _Sue's Kitchen_, he was three miles away from Fallon. Whenever he checked the time he no longer saw numbers, but how long it would be until he saw Fallon again. If he were at the beach about to go surfing, he would be thinking about how much Fallon would've loved to be there. Every thought and every action was made with Fallon in mind. She was the center of his _world_ now.

So was she right, after all, about imprinting?

He didn't _feel _forced to love her, he just did. It may've been the imprinting that caused him to think about her so much, but he knew his love was real. It had to be. It was too life altering for it to be fabricated. When he was with her, he felt like this feeling was _everywhere_, this euphoria, pulsing in the air around them, ricocheting through his body and the trees and the whole goddamn world. It was more than love—it was _infinite_.

He tightened his hold on the to-go box full of treats he'd just purchased from _Sue's Kitchen_, resolving to tell Fallon exactly how he felt when he gave them to her. It had only been two hours since she'd told him to leave, but he couldn't stay away any longer. He hoped she had enough time to clear her head and would let him in. Well, that is if he can get past Quil. Embry knew his orders were to protect Fallon and to keep Embry away from her. No matter what Embry had said, the council wouldn't budge on their decision. Sam had relayed to Embry that under no circumstances was he allowed being near Fallon, but he couldn't _order_ him to stay away. They'd realized the day Fallon met the vampire in the woods that, where an imprint is concerned, the Alpha's orders were null and void. Apparently, Sam _had _ordered Embry to stay away that day, but the order didn't have its usual affect. Embry knew why. The bond he had with Fallon was stronger than his bond with Sam or anyone else in the pack; it was unbreakable. He _couldn't _stop loving her, whereas a wolf _could_ choose to leave his pack.

His cellphone buzzed in his pocket. He rolled his eyes. He hated the stupid thing. His mother had forced him to get one so she could get a hold of him in an emergency.

He fished it out of his pocket and answered it, grunting, "Hello?"

"_Embry!" _Quil said frantically through the phone. _"Where the hell are you?"_

"Leaving _Sue's_. Is something wrong with Fallon?"

"_Ah, man, Em. Sam told me not to tell you, but I couldn't. I had to_—"

"Quil, just shut the fuck up and tell me," Embry interrupted impatiently.

"_You need to get over here_—_it's bad, Em."_

Embry hung up, dropping his to-go box. His heart was beating a million times a minute. The feeling he'd had earlier—that horrible pain he'd felt ripping through his heart—it wasn't because he was sad about Fallon. It _was _Fallon. His heart was tethered to hers, so he'd been feeling _her _pain. He exploded into a wolf instantaneously. If one hundred percent of his mind wasn't focused on Fallon, he would've realized how lucky he was no one had been around when it happened.

As he sprinted through the trees, his every heartbeat was accompanied by her name whispered into his mind. Each time he heard it, he picked up speed.

**.**

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**.**

In the beginning, Fallon went in and out of consciousness.

She saw the vampire's cold eyes and heard him say, "Until next time," before he disappeared out the back door. Next she saw Quil in his wolf form. He howled once at the sight of her, alerting the others, she was sure, before transforming into a human. He knelt down by her, talking at her rapidly, but all she could think about was making a joke about him being naked. When she realized it hurt too much to even open her mouth to speak, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Quil was still talking, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. "Mmbrey," she forced out. Embry. She wanted Embry.

She felt herself slip back into unconsciousness.

The next time she opened her eyes, people surrounded her. She could only match a few names to their respected faces, but she vaguely recognized them all. She saw her brother and Jared. Her father was even there. They were all talking at her or each other. Someone assured her that the ambulance was on its way, but she didn't care. Everything hurt and she knew there was only one thing that could make her feel better.

The vampire had said it himself.

"Soon, my dear, your silly little denial will be gone. You'll realize how stupid you've been once your lover boy is the only person you want to be with when you're at your lowest. I'm afraid you'll have to learn this the hard way."

She fell unconscious once again.

She woke when the sound of furious shouting assaulted her ears. She didn't wake because of the noise, however. She just knew Embry had to have arrived.

**.**

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**.**

Her house was lit up with flashing red and blue lights when Embry finally arrived. A cop car and an ambulance were parked out front. People were everywhere. He only just remembered to transform before bursting through the front door.

It was silent for a second, and then everyone was yelling. Embry didn't care about any of it; he just wanted Fallon, but people surrounded her. Sam was one of them; he was shooting Quil a death glare from across the room. "Embry," Sam began warningly, but Embry just shook his head. There was nothing Sam could say right now to stop him from being with Fallon. Sam must've understood, because he stepped aside with a sigh.

A strong hand gripped the back of his neck, yanking him to a stop. At first he thought it was Sam changing his mind, but when he turned around he saw Mahalo Lahote. He'd never seen a more angry man in his entire life.

"This is all _your _fault," he hissed, punching Embry right in the nose.

He heard a sickening _crack _and knew it was broken, but the pain was small in comparison to everything else he was feeling. He ruefully shoved it back into place so it could heal. Without a word to Mahalo, he turned and shoved the rest of the way through the crowd. Mahalo was still screaming profanities at him, but both Paul and Sam were holding him back. He broke free and swung at him again, but Embry ducked out of the way. He was beginning to think the only way to see Fallon would be by fighting his way to her. He was prepared to do just that, when he heard:

"Mmbrey?"

His heart stopped.

That was all he needed to hear. She _needed _him. No one could stand his way now. He was at her side seconds later, looking down at her as they slowly transferred her onto a stretcher. Once she was secure, they lifted it and popped the wheels out. He took this chance to grab one of her hands, kissing it and whispering, "I'm here, baby."

Her eyes locked onto his despite the rapidly swelling of her face. He didn't take his eyes off her as he followed the stretcher out the door. He had started shaking the moment he'd finally caught sight of her bruised body, but the fierce rage had little control over his body right now. His main priority was Fallon and he wasn't taking his eyes off her until she ordered him to do so. Nothing else would deter him, so when Sam put a hand on his shoulder he shook it off impatiently. "I'm fine," he said tersely.

He climbed into the back of the ambulance, holding her hand the entire time.

The others had already gathered on the front lawn. The moment the ambulance sped across the bend and disappeared, the shouting started. Paul, Jacob, and Quil finally let go of a very furious Mahalo. It'd taken all three of them to hold him back.

He immediately grabbed Paul by his shirt. "Don't you _dare _do that to me again, boy, or I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life. And you _will _pay for this insolence later," he hissed furiously. He then released Paul with a little shove.

"Mr. Lahote—" Sam began, but Mahalo cut him off with just a look.

"I whipped your dad and I can whip you too, kid," he grunted. He pointed a finger into Sam's chest and added, "You better get your boys out there. I want that vampire, preferably alive so _I_ can kill him." He then threw off his shirt and started to stride towards the woods. "Come on, Paul," he snapped.

"But, Dad, don't you want to go to Fallon—"

Paul shut up when his father slowly turned around to look murderously at him. Without another word, he slipped out of his flip-flops and took off his shirt. He glanced at Sam, who nodded at him, and then joined his dad's side.

After the father and son disappeared into the trees, Sam turned to the rest of his pack. "The council will just have to deal with it, because Embry isn't going to leave Fallon's side until she's feeling better. So, until the council intervenes, Embry will be her personal guard. I want Quil circling the perimeter of the hospital, just in case. The rest of us will divide up and search the forest. We know its scent now, so it should be easier for us to follow. And, guys, be smart and careful. This vampire is nothing like we've seen before; do _not _underestimate it."

Quil didn't protest about getting guard duty again, because he'd been the one to let the vampire get to Fallon. He felt responsible. He would never let anything like that ever happen again. "Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment, either," Sam then continued, as if he had sensed Quil's anger. "I know we've all grown to care for Fallon like she's one of our own, but the best thing we can do for her right now is to keep a level head and find this sonofabitch."

They grimly nodded.


	18. I Can't Stand It

_****_**AN: **This chapter is short and doesn't add much to the story line, but I've been very busy lately and I thought you guys would want some sort of update! So, I promise the next chapter will be much better! Happy reading.

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_**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**_

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Fallon's right hand was swelteringly hot from Embry gripping it so tightly, but the warmth comforted her. Whenever the doctors said she should get some rest, she became hysterical. She was terrified. It was Embry that said he wouldn't let go, so she'd know even when she was sleeping that he was still with her by his everlasting warmth.

Sure enough, when she woke up the next day her hand was still burning.

Embry's head was bowed with his forehead resting against her hand, obviously still asleep. Fallon felt a pang of guilt by forcing him to sit in a chair all night rather than going home to actually get some rest. She didn't plan on waking him up, she kind of liked how peaceful he looked, but he jolted out of his slumber moments after her, as if he'd known she'd woken. She tried to smile reassuringly at him, but it hurt too much.

Embry stood and finally released her hand. It immediately felt too cold. When he turned away to gaze out the window at the morning sunrise, she felt tears rising in her throat. "Am I that hideous?" she whispered hoarsely.

Embry turned to look at her, shock written all over his face. He grabbed her hand again, kissing it tenderly. Fallon sighed in relief; the heat was her only comfort. "Don't ever say anything like that again," Embry said. "There is nothing on this earth that could ever make you anything but beautiful to me. Understand?"

She squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"I—I can't look at you because of _me_. Seeing you like this…knowing that _I _caused it…it's too much, Fallon. I can't stand it."

"Shut up," Fallon said severely. Embry looked up at her in surprise. She cleared her throat. It got a bit easier to talk the more she spoke. "If you're going to start up with that bullshit then I don't want you in here with me," she bluffed. "If you're really here to comfort me, then you won't say another word about who's to blame. Unless you're blaming the _thing _that really _did _do this to me, Rosier."

At the sound of its name, the hair on the back of his neck rose the same way it would've done had he been in his wolf form. He felt her eyes on him, so he forced his anger back down and managed a half-smile for her benefit. She saw right through his efforts, rolling her eyes, but she smiled back at him a bit too.

"Ah, you're awake," said her doctor as he entered her room.

Fallon looked up and immediately screamed. Embry was on his feet in seconds, searching the room for danger frantically. "Please, don't be frightened, Miss Lahote," Dr. Cullen said sincerely. "I know you just had a very traumatic encounter with someone of my kind, but I can assure you that I am nothing like him."

Slowly, Fallon relaxed back into her pillow. She nodded mutely at him. She knew he was a _different _kind of vampire, but at the moment _any_ vampire was considered an enemy in her mind. She took a deep, calming breath.

Dr. Cullen gave her the space she obviously desired, however. He sat in the chair farthest from her, flipping through her charts. "I took on your case purposely," he began carefully, "because I knew at once what had happened to you. This way no suspicions will be raised for you pack. That is the last thing you all need right now. I also have special expertize in treating this type of thing, naturally."

Fallon again nodded mutely. She still didn't feel comfortable enough speaking to him quite yet. His face was kind, trustworthy even, but so was Marcel Rosier's.

"You sustained several injuries," Dr. Cullen continued. "I believe his goal was to drain as much blood from you as possible without biting you, which is strange in itself. I don't understand what he hoped to accomplish—" Fallon bit her lip. She knew Rosier's reasoning, but she wasn't going to tell _him_ that she knew. "Anyways, the worst of the injuries is a concussion to the back of your head. He didn't break anything, which is another odd thing for a vampire attack. You sustained several blows to your face, but again nothing was broken. Your ankle is twisted, however. I believe a previous injury made it susceptible to being injured again. You have stiches on your face, from the end of your eyebrow to your ear. I'm not sure what he used to do such a—"

"His fingernail," Fallon answered flatly. Embry visibly flinched at her side, squeezing her hand a bit tighter.

"He also cut you along the side, where you have stitches as well. Both of these sets of stitches should dissolve on their own in about two weeks. It seems his goal was to just be dramatic, because nothing is seriously wrong with you. I suggest a lot of rest and fluids. You will be sore for a little while, but within a few days your bruising will fade. Besides keeping your ankle in a spring, everything else should heal itself. Actually, your body heals miraculously fast. It's probably due to the wolf in your blood."

"Thank you, doctor," Fallon murmured.

Dr. Cullen smiled broadly, glad that she'd finally broken her silence. "If you have any questions, you can always give me a call," he said, handing her his business card. "But if there's nothing else you want to know, you're free to go home. One of your parents just needs to sign you out at the front desk first."

Fallon looked down at her feet, embarrassed, when she muttered, "What if your mom's dead and your dad's nowhere to be found?"

"I'll sort it out for you," Dr. Cullen said kindly. He winked and then added, "It'll be our little secret, eh?" Without another word, he left the room.

Embry immediately handed her some clothes out of a brown sack he was carrying. He blushed profusely and said, "I had Quil go back to your house to get you some clothes to change into since Sam took the clothes you were wearing for the vampire's scent. I didn't think you'd want to wear a bloody shirt around, anyways. We weren't really sure what to pick out for you. Neither of us have sisters."

Fallon lifted the raincoat and pajama shorts into the light. She laughed so hard it hurt her sore mouth, but she couldn't help it. Embry blushed even more, realizing he had made a vital fashion error. "It's perfect," she told him through her giggles.

Embry helped her get to her feet, handing her a pair of crutches to aid her walk to the bathroom. "I'll get everything ready for us to go," Embry told her through the door.

Fallon slowly pulled the standard patient wear over her head, dropping it to the floor. She felt tears rise in her eyes at the sight of all the bruises spotting her body. The vampire had made its message perfectly clear. She was almost afraid to heal, because she knew that the vampire would then make his _next _move. She had no desire to find out what the move was going to be. She put on the red raincoat she hadn't worn since she was eleven and the plaid pajama shorts she wore to bed every night. The sight made her laugh again, and she was suddenly grateful that it was Embry here and not her father. Even when it was unintentional, Embry made her smile, and that's what she needed.

**.**

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**.**

When Fallon stepped into her house, she half-hoped her father would be there, waiting for her with worry written all over his face. The disappointment she felt lessened some when Embry strode in right behind her. "You're staying?" she asked hopefully.

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving until you order me away," Embry responded. He must've sensed her disappointment about her father, because he added quietly, "They're out in the woods, Fallon; both your brother _and _your father. They haven't transformed back into human shape since the attack. They're looking for _it_."

That did make her feel a bit better, but she would rather have them here.


	19. I'm Sorry Too, My Old Friend

**AN: **First of all, for all of my loyal readers, I am terribly sorry for being so M.I.A recently! These past few weeks have been rough, but I am back now and will be updating more frequently the way I was before. I read all of your reviews every day, so keep it up!

- This chapter has more flashbacks. We're getting closer to finding out the reason why Mahalo acts the way he does.

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_**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**_

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"_Hey,_ _you've reached Parker, but I'm not here right now so leave a message_—" Fallon hung up her phone angrily, tired of hearing Parker Grey's messaging machine. She'd called him about a hundred times, but he hadn't answered once. She was beginning to get angry, which really meant she was beginning to get worried.

It had been five days since the attack and everything was back to normal. Well, if her brother and father's continual disappearance and her live-in wolf protector were things that are considered normal. To top it all off, Fallon was healing _freakishly_ fast. Her stitches had already dissolved and her ankle felt fine. It was just a little too weird for her. All of this magic was beginning to drive her crazy. There was only one person she wanted to talk to about all of it, but he wasn't answering his phone.

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**.**

Mahalo watched as his son slept soundlessly. In the past five days of endless hunting, they'd each only gotten a few hours of rest at the most. Mahalo could only sleep for an hour or so at a time, because the image of his daughter haunted his dreams. The anger Mahalo felt had not diminished in the slightest over the past few days. If anything, he was even _more_ determined to find the sonofabitch that hurt his daughter.

Paul stirred slightly, shifting in his sleep.

Mahalo brushed a strand of hair out of his son's eyes, sighing deeply. His kids didn't believe that he paid any attention to the goings-on in their lives, but he did. He'd watched with pride as his boy made his first transformation into a wolf. He'd been watching him ever since, as he slowly grew up and assumed more responsibility. He knew his son was becoming a man. Soon Paul wouldn't listen to anything Mahalo had to say, he knew it to be true, and so he'd been a little tougher on Paul in recent events.

Suddenly unable to stand looking at the innocence in his son's relaxed, sleeping form, Mahalo turned away. Paul had always reminded Mahalo of his late wife whenever he slept. Before he could help it, Paul's eyes flashed across his mind. He had his mother's eyes. Mahalo squeezed his eyes tightly shut, willing the memory of his wife to go away. It did not, of course. It _never _did.

* * *

_Mahalo lightly kissed his wife on the cheek, smiling against her warm skin. "Wake up, my darling," he hummed softly. Lester turned over slowly, smiling impishly at him as her eyes fluttered open. The bright browns swirled with gold around the irises, looking out at him through wide, round eyes. Beautiful._

* * *

Mahalo blinked. He knew he would've been crying had his tear ducts not dried up years ago. He cleared his throat and gruffly woke his son up. "It's time for us to go home," he grunted, furious at himself. He didn't want to return until he had the bloodsucker dead at his hand, but he had no choice. He couldn't leave his daughter alone with Tiffany Call's son for any longer. He knew that the kid was with her now, Mahalo had expected it, but he wouldn't allow it for much longer. As much as he desired the vampire's death, he desired to keep his daughter _away _from that boy _much_ more. He knew firsthand the dangers a wolf could unleash on an innocent bystander.

Pain immediately erupted in his chest at the thought.

* * *

_Even before Mahalo had become a wolf, he loved Celeste Black. He'd loved her for as long as he could remember, not that she knew it. Like everyone else, she believed he only started to develop feelings for her after their sophomore year. In reality, Mahalo couldn't keep his mind off her since he was four and they'd shared crayons. He'd always been too proud to admit it. He was always thinking about his reputation back then. Looking at her now, her belly full with his child,_ —_their second baby together_—_he couldn't be prouder to be able to call her his wife._

_His happiness dimmed some when he recognized the fellow walking up the path._

_He watched as Joshua Uley opened the white gate and entered their yard. Mahalo couldn't understand why Josh wasn't changed the same way he was by his own wife Allison. While Mahalo was more mature and responsible due to his wife, Josh was the opposite. He'd pushed all of the responsibility of raising his child off onto his wife and instead partook in partying and killing vampires._

"_Halo," Joshua greeted warmly, smiling at Lester beside him._

_Mahalo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He'd never met a better smooth talker than Joshua Uley. Mahalo had learned everything he knew about charming people from him, after all. "Hello, Josh," he finally responded stiffly._

"_Could I have a private word with your husband, dear Celeste?"_

_Lester grimaced; Joshua was the only one to call her by her full name. Her mother didn't even do it. She looked back and forth between the two men, hesitating. She could tell Mahalo didn't want him here. "Well, _— " _she paused, looking at Mahalo for direction. When he nodded at her, she quickly got up and left the two alone._

"_I told you not to come around here unless we had business to take care of," said Mahalo quietly at once. "Even then, never in this form."_

"_I see you've told your wife everything," Joshua murmured nonchalantly._

"_So what if I have?" snapped Mahalo defensively. "She's already known for months. Besides, she had the right to have it explained to her by me."_

_Joshua raised his hands in truce, and said, "I'm not here to talk about that, and I couldn't care less, actually. I'm here to tell you that it's time."_

_Mahalo felt like he'd been doused with cold water. When he'd said he told his wife everything, he truly meant _everything. _They had discussed in length what they should do had this moment occurred. "Time for what?" he asked sarcastically._

"_I've heard rumors of a small coven of three residing on the outskirts of Port Hardy," Joshua responded, completely ignoring his Beta's tone._

"_Well, isn't that just lovely for them. I hear Canada's beautiful this time of year."_

"_Dammit," Joshua snarled, already losing his cool. He grabbed Mahalo's wrist tightly, pulling him in close to whisper, "You _will _meet me at the top of the Landing tonight at six o'clock sharp. That's an _order_."_

_Eagle's Landing was a locally given name to the highest cliff in La Push. It was just up the hill behind the new house Mahalo had just purchased with his wife. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his wrist free. "Don't do this, brother," he said severely._

"_I'm sorry, Halo, but you will see in time that I am right."_

_Mahalo shook his head despairingly. He waited until his once good friend shut the gate behind him and started to walk away, before he finally spoke._

_His words were soft and sad, carried over to Joshua by the salty sea breeze:_

"_I'm sorry, too, my old friend. I'm sorry for what I'm going to have to do."_

* * *

Mahalo was glad that he had already belonged to a pack when Paul transformed for the first time. As they ran now side-by-side, neither could hear the other one's thoughts. Well, they _could_, but only the things the other would _allow _them to hear. Mahalo had been fearful that he would be forced to join La Push's new pack once Sam had transformed for the first time. Whenever he didn't, the relief was monumental. His body still recognized him as belonging to a solo pack. Ever since _that _night when his world had ended and he'd been untethered from Joshua forever, he'd been on his own.

Glancing at his son out of the corner of his eye, he was thankful. He never wanted his son to be able to hear _all _of his thoughts.

They were running home now. They were still several hours away, having covered large expanses of land on their little five-day adventure. Mahalo was steeling himself for the fight of the century. He'd spoken to Sam privately before they'd left, telling him that it was okay for Embry Call to be his daughter's temporary protector. He'd known there was no stopping it with him being so far away, but he had allowed it, believing that catching the bloodsucker was of more importance. Now that he was returning home, his kindness had run short. Call would have to go.

He was much too dangerous and he risked his daughter's safety.

Fallon's face swam before his eyes. He blinked and shook his head angrily, trying without much success to get the image of his daughter, broken and bleeding, out of his mind. She'd looked so much like her mother had looked on that horrible night. He couldn't stand it. He knew he couldn't bear to see his daughter looking like that again, so he'd made himself busy the past couple of days. When he got home, he knew she would still have cuts and bruises but the worst of it would be healed. Fallon had both his and her mother's wolf blood running through her veins, after all.

Something had snapped inside him after laying eyes on his bleeding daughter. He'd done such a good job of blocking out that particular memory of his wife—the memory of her death—and seeing Fallon eerily resembling her mother destroyed the walls he had carefully, painstakingly construed around the memory. In the past five days, Mahalo had left his son alone for hours at a time to go off on his own. He was virtually incapable of doing anything during these hours, electing to roll up into a ball in his wolf form and quietly howl despairingly the entire time. Mahalo had found over the years that it was better to be a wolf when his emotions were overwhelming. The pain is still there, of course, but it's almost more bearable. Sometimes he just ran. Running, as a wolf, was the best thing he could do to distract his mind from the pain he was feeling.

This wasn't the first time he'd done it.

Every time he'd left his children over the years, his pain had been the cause. He'd missed both of his children's younger years in life, but he'd slowly been getting better at managing his pain as time went on. Now, his frequent disappearances were _slightly _less frequent than they'd been before. He wished he could just disappear right now and leave all of this mess behind. He knew he could never do it, though. Despite the constant pain he felt every time he looked at one of his children—two beautiful reminders of his dead wife—he loved him. He loved them _so_ much. His Lester had never loved anything as fiercely as she had loved her children, so he knew he could never leave them. As if she'd known that he would do something drastic in order to be with her, she had made him promise her on that dreadful night that he would live for them.

He would never break a promise he'd made to her.

He felt the torrent of memories rising in his mind. He slid to a stop and thought to his son quickly: _Let's take a break here. Make a fire. I'll be right back_.

He darted off through the trees immediately without waiting for a response. The memories were coming faster and faster. He couldn't hold them back much longer. With a long, strangled howl, he collapsed to his stomach and put his head between his front paws, whining. Pain washed over him in waves as the memory of that night forced its way into his subconscious, playing in his mind like a horror movie he couldn't turn off.

* * *

**EN: **Please review with any comments or questions! I read every one and each one makes me unbelievably happy to read. We're almost through with most of the major flashback scenes, but I was curious to know how many of you enjoy them and how many of you don't like them. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks and happy reading.


	20. I Think You're A Very Nice Werewolf

_****_**AN: **Hello, all! This chapter is lengthy and might be a tad slower than most, but I think you all will enjoy the much needed Embry/Fallon time! Happy reading!

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_**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**_

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The night was spooky and dark, but the couple making out in the car didn't seem to mind. They had the music turned up and their seats reclining back; they were happily lost in their oblivious love bubble. Things started heating up, when—_bam! _An evil ex-boyfriend zombie comes out of nowhere and attacks the young lovebirds.

Fallon screamed and shoved her face into the seat cushion she'd been clinging desperately to for the past hour. Embry laughed wholeheartedly beside her as he unsuccessfully tried to pry her fingers from off the pillow. "Come on, now, Fall. Are you seriously telling me that a B-rated horror flick with atrocious acting and bad special effects can scare you after everything that you've been through?"

Fallon gave him a dark look and said, "Well now, _you _haven't met my ex-boyfriend Sean, have you? He would totally turn into a zombie and try to kill me. I mean you can't have a werewolf for a brother without assuming there are other mythical creatures out there. Zombies are obviously the next logical choice."

"Why not _nice_ mythical creatures, like unicorns?" Embry asked wryly.

Completely missing the joke, Fallon responded seriously, "The likelihood of a nice mythical creature existing is extremely slim."

"Oh, so _I'm _not a nice mythical creature, then?"

Fallon finally lowered the pillow away from her eyes, worrying that she'd inadvertently hurt his feelings. When she saw his teasing smirk, she rolled her eyes and laughed, swatting him lightly on the shoulder. "_Very _funny," she said sarcastically.

"What's funny?" Embry asked innocently. "I was simply asking if you thought I was considered a 'nice' mythical creature."

Fallon couldn't stop the blush from slowly creeping up her neck. She knew Embry was just flirting with her to goad her into admitting her growing feelings for him. This was the first time over the past five days that Embry had even hinted that there was something more between them. There obviously was with the way they had kissed that day on the beach, but while he had been temporarily living here he had been a complete gentleman. He slept on the couch, always kept a suitable space between them, and would only kiss her on the forehead before bed each night.

It was infuriating, really.

At first she had preferred it that way, partly because she feared her father could come home at any minute, but mainly because she wanted a chance to actually get to knowEmbry. She'd already known that he was an incredible kisser. She was tired of not understanding _why _she spent her days constantly thinking about him. Imprinting sort of screwed that up in a way, because it messed up the natural flow of things. They fell in love first and _then _became friends. It wasn't supposed to happen that way.

"Yeah, you're a nice one," she finally muttered, not meeting his eyes.

"What was that you said? I couldn't hear you," continued Embry, biting his lip to keep himself from smiling. She had that effect on him.

Fallon rolled her eyes and swatted him again, but Embry just kept staring at her calmly, waiting. She huffed in annoyance. He was going to make her say it. She raised her chin slightly and switched her lowered gaze upward to his nose. She refused to look at those mesmerizing eyes. "You're nice, Embry," she said.

"Gosh, I'm sorry, I still can't hear you," Embry teased, finally allowing himself to smile a bit. "I think I have a bit of ear wax blocking my hearing canal."

In her annoyance, she looked up into his eyes. Her heart immediately melted at the sight. Looking at him—_really _looking at him—brought everything she'd learned about him the past few days to the surface. His favorite color was blue, but not because of the usual boy reason. He said that it used to be green, but ever since he'd looked into her eyes, especially the blue one, he had found that no other color was quite as beautiful. His favorite food was mac'n'cheese, which was a relief because that was the only thing Fallon knew how to cook. Surfing was more a hobby for him than it was for Fallon, whom you could find every Sunday morning out in the ocean without fail. His preferred physical activity was hiking. Every year his mother would take off two weeks of work so that the two of them could take their annual hiking trip. Before his transformation gave him an unfair advantage, he was on the track team. His mother was at every game.

Fallon learned more serious, intimate things about Embry, as well. Most days they'd talked into the early hours of the morning before going to bed.

He was incredibly close with his mother, more so than even _he_ realized. Fallon had noticed that every major event in his life that he had described to her involved his mother in some way. One of the worst nights in his entire life happened when he was twelve. He'd come home to find his house in disarray with his mother kneeling on the living room floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She'd lost the baby. Daniel, her then fiancé, was gone, along with all of his stuff. She'd kicked him out of her life after finding out about the miscarriage. Embry cried with her, mourning not only the loss of a little sister but the loss of a potential father, as well. He'd wanted a dad more than anything. That was the worst year of his life. His mother started dating a loser, who'd been beating Embry behind her back. He hadn't said anything to her about it for months; he didn't want to see his mother so unhappy again. When she finally found out, the loser had to get a restraining order to keep her from ripping him to shreds. Things got better after that for Embry—until his transformation. Fallon saw how much it truly ripped him up inside to continue to lie to his mother about sneaking off at night. Her heart ached for him. She wished she'd had a relationship like that with her own father.

As much as Fallon learned about Embry, he learned about her. She'd told him everything; from the time she fell off a tree and broke her leg to the time she had to pick up her drunken father from the police station. It was her sixteenth birthday and the first thing she used her new license to do. He learned all about her mother—well, the little that she _did_ know about her. He even learned a little bit about Paul. She'd noticed when she tried to talk about Parker that he would stiffen up a bit. She didn't understand why, she and Parker had always just been friends. Nevertheless, she didn't bring it up again.

"Fallon?" Embry asked softly, after the silence had lengthened even further. "I was just kidding around with you, honest."

Fallon blinked and glanced away from those distracting eyes, embarrassed she'd let herself get so lost in her own thoughts once again. She hesitated, and then put a hand on Embry's thigh. "I think you're a _very _nice werewolf," she murmured.

His hand immediately intertwined with hers, and raising it to his lips, he placed a feather-light kiss there. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest. "That's not good enough, I'm afraid," he rumbled. His voice was suddenly all husky and manly like.

Her heart jumped.

She tried to pull her hand away, confused, but he held on tighter. Smiling softly and with a mischievous glint in his eye, he added, "It's not good enough because I want _more_. I've been taking it slow, so we could really get to know each other the right way, and I've loved every minute I've spent learning about you, but now I want _more_. Tell me what I want to hear, Fallon. Tell me and I'm yours."

His words sent a tingling sensation through out her body. She'd only had one boyfriend previously, Sean, but he'd never made her feel like this before. She finally allowed herself to return her gaze to his face. "I think you're a very nice werewolf, and an incredible human being," she managed to say over the wild beating of her heart. She cautiously lifted her free hand to gently touch his face. She licked her suddenly dry lips and added, "Actually, I think you're kind of amazing. And I-I think—I know it's too soon to really tell, we've only been hanging out for like two months now, but—Well, I haven't felt this way about anyone else before, so it must be…I mean we're so _young_, but what does that really matter, anyways?I think I'm falling for you."

After she'd spent several minutes rambling nervously, she'd finally said it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, before looking back up at Embry. His face was alight with pure happiness. He seemed to be glowing from the inside out. She'd never seen someone so happy. When he suddenly stood and kneeled down on one knee in front of her, still holding her hand, she panicked.

He must've read the panic in her eyes, because he laughed jovially, still radiating happiness. "No, no, not _that_—not _yet_, anyways," he said with a wink. He wiped all joking from his face, then, and said, "You don't have to say you love me yet, just knowing that the possibility of you loving me one day is enough. I don't want to rush things, either. However, I would like to ask you, Fallon, if you would do me the incredible honor of being my girlfriend? Say yes and we can spend the rest of our lives learning about each other. Say yes and every day I will show you how much I love you. And yes, I _do _love you and I'm not afraid to admit it. I've thought about what you said before about imprinting, and to some extent you're right, but you were wrong about one thing. Maybe it is 'crazy wolf magic,' as you'd said before, that brought me to you, but that's _all_ it's done. I'm _lucky_ to be blessed with the gift of knowing without a doubt that you are my soul mate. I'm not asking you to feel as strongly as I do, not right now. All I'm asking is that you give me the chance to spend however many days, months, even _years _it takes to be worthy of your love." He took a deep breath. "So, will you?"

Fallon tugged on his hand and he rose to his feet, still searching her eyes for any hint of what she was about to say. She got on top of his feet and stood on her tippy-toes, reaching up to grab the back of his neck. She gently pulled his head down a little and leaned her own head back so that she was looking directly up at him. Their faces were just inches apart. "That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," she breathed, feeling tears rising in her eyes, "and there's just one thing I'd like to suggest."

"Anything."

"If I agree to be your girlfriend, we can only spend _half _of our lives learning about each other. The other half has to be spent kissing."

His lips descended upon hers before she could even get to the second syllable of 'kissing.' He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into the air without removing his lips from hers once. She wrapped her legs around his waist to balance herself, pressing herself against him as she deepened the kiss. She wanted every part of her body touching his; she'd never felt so _one _with anyone else before.

When he suddenly broke away, leaving her lightheaded and breathless, her bottom lip subconsciously protruded in a pout.

"You have exactly one minute to get out of my house, before I _make _you get out."

She turned, still securely wrapped in Embry's arms, to see both her brother and her father standing with their arms crossed at the door. She looked at Paul pleadingly, hoping for some brotherly support, but he looked just as pissed as her father. She blushed; that probably had something to do with the way she was straddling his pack member in front of him. She readied herself for a yelling match, opening her mouth to speak, but Embry stopped her short by putting her back down on her feet.

She looked up at him, confused, but he just swiftly leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, Fall. I'll be back for you soon," he whispered.

Embry was out the backdoor seconds later.

She missed him already.

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**EN: **Okay, so I hope that wasn't too cheesy or mushy! I tried to make it realistic, but I may have gone a little overboard on the gooey eyes they had for each other. Please review and let me know what you thought of it! Thank you!


	21. You've Left Me With No Alternative

_**CHAPTER NINETEEN**_

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Fallon prepared herself for the worst. For a minute, she actually debated running out the backdoor to find Embry and simultaneously avoid her father, but she dismissed that half-assed idea quickly. Not only would Embry be long gone by now due to his freakishly fast werewolf running skills, but her father wouldn't have let her gone two feet without stopping her, as well. Resisting would be futile, so with a small sigh she plopped herself down on the couch and patiently waited.

Mahalo pinched the bridge of his nose and began pacing back and forth, his preferred style of calming himself, while Paul sat down on the chair across from her with his head in his hands. They were acting like someone had just died. _So dramatic, _thought Fallon resignedly. _This is going to be a long night._

To her utmost surprise, her father didn't start off the argument by yelling. Very quietly, he asked, "Why can't you just _listen _to me for once? Rabbit, I'm only doing what's best for you. You're my _kid_, for crissake!"

"How would you know what's best for me? You don't even know the first thing _about _me," Fallon replied just as equally quiet. She surprised herself by being so calm. "You call me 'rabbit' like it means we have a connection or something, as if it _means _something to me. It doesn't, Dad. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't. I was six-years-old—_ten _years ago. You'd think by now you would have learned something else about your own daughter. Did you know that I love to paint, just like Mom did? Well, do you?"

Mahalo stopped pacing and turned to look at her. "Of course I do," he murmured. "I—I feel the same way, actually. Your mother's the one that taught me how to paint. I never did while she was still alive, but I started to after her death. It's a type of therapy for me. I'm not saying I'm any good at it, though. Every year I paint a portrait of you both—" He paused, as though he were deciding whether or not to continue telling his story. He ran his fingers through his hair, and with a sigh he continued, "Every year after I finish the portraits I bring them to the top of the Landing and burn them. It's stupid, I know, but I believe by burning them—well, maybe the smoke tendrils will reach your mother somehow." He turned away, embarrassed, and muttered again, "It's stupid."

Fallon's mouth was wide open in shock; she didn't even bother to try and hide it. Paul looked as equally surprised, his bright brown eyes widening. She had _never _seen this side of her father before. He looked so vulnerable and broken. He'd finally stripped away the hardened shell he'd spent Fallon's entire life building and let them get a peak inside at the _real _him. Suddenly realizing something, she blurted, "Was it you that painted that portrait of me I found in my art classroom?"

Mahalo looked confused, but then he said, "I _did _lose your portrait, or so I _thought _I did. I haven't burned Paul's yet because I started a new one for you. It didn't seem right to burn one but not the other. But who would have gone to the trouble to steal something so invaluable and then just leave it in a high school?"

Fallon knew at once it had been Embry. He'd been in the house a handful of times before and had every opportunity to take it. She knew why he'd done it, too. She now understood how much he cared for her, so he must've known even before they'd become friends all about how she felt towards her father. It would be so like Embry to do something like this, too. He'd made sure she would see the painting, believing that seeing something so beautifully drawn by her own father would have a profound impact on her, and maybe, just maybe, bring them closer together. He was trying to help repair their broken relationship, even though he knew her father was trying to keep Embry away from her. Embry was selfless, plain and simple. There was just one thing that didn't make sense. "Did you sign your name or something on it?" she asked bemusedly. How had Embry expected her to know it was from her father?

For the very first time in her entire life, Fallon saw her father blush. "On the back, I write a little something for—for your mother, and sign the bottom," he muttered. "It's stupid, but I'd try _anything_ that might let me communicate with your mom in _some _way."

Fallon hadn't even thought about looking on the back, not that her teacher had given her much time to anyways. The longing she now felt to have gotten the chance to read his letter surprised her. Realizing both her brother and father's gazes were upon her, she cleared her throat and shrugged. They wouldn't understand why Embry had done what he did, so she wasn't going to waste her breath trying to explain it to them. Although, she did wonder where the portrait was now and what had happened to it. Aloud, she said awkwardly, "It was beautiful."

She'd never given her father a compliment before.

He seemed just as embarrassed to be accepting one, because he simply shrugged. He then suddenly started his pacing again, pushing his shoulders back and standing up a bit straighter. Fallon knew at once the lovely little sharing time they'd just had was over. He had his back-to-business face on. "I'm tired of arguing about this, Fallon," he sighed. "So, I'm sorry, but I'm putting you on house arrest until all of this vampire shit blows over. I don't want you seeing this boy again, not _ever_."

Fallon's mouth fell open in shock as her father started to leave the room. Snapping back to reality, she yelled, "You can't just say that and walk away!" She stood and immediately grabbed his arm. "Dad, I'm talking to you!"

"This is just the way it's going to have to be, Fallon. You refuse to listen to me, so you've left me with no alternative. You're lucky I decided against sending you to Port Townsend to stay with your aunt for the remainder of the year. It would've been too dangerous to have you so far away from the protection La Push offers. I would have done it otherwise, young lady," Mahalo said sternly, prying her fingers off his arm.

Fallon immediately grasped his arm again. "'Young lady?' Seriously, Dad, do you get all of your parenting skills from shitty television shows? That's an empty threat anyways, because your sister can't even stand you," she snapped furiously.

Mahalo raised his eyebrows. "That's true," he admitted, "but what does that have to do with you? You're not me. She loves the two of you dearly. She already told me that she would be delighted to have you come visit for a while."

"Fine," Fallon grumbled, "but what makes you think I'll even listen to you? What's to stop me from walking right out that door and never coming back?"

Mahalo gave her the don't-be-stupid look and said dryly, "Really, Fallon? Two werewolves will stop you, _that's _what would happen."

Fallon's white-hot anger had reached its boiling point. Mahalo was halfway out of the room when Fallon exploded, screaming, "All you are is a drunk-ass, worthless deadbeat dad that doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone but yourself. I _hate_ you!"

Mahalo's back was to the living room; he'd paused to hear Fallon speak, but a few moments after she'd finished he wordlessly left the room. Fallon still stood in the living room with her chest heaving, staring at the spot her father had just vacated. When she collapsed to her knees and began to softly cry, Paul came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, slowly rocking her back and forth.

Just an hour ago she'd been the happiest girl alive, but her happiness had gone the moment Embry had walked out that door.

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**EN: **Please review! It means the world to me, not to mention motivation for me to keep me writing and updating! Haha. And I also enjoy reading you all's thoughts on the story and how it's progressing. Until next time! :)


	22. He Would Never Break A Promise To Her

**AN: **Hello, all! We have a big chunk of flashback in this chapter. I can't tell you for certain because I've been known to change my mind, but as of right now we only have one flashback remaining. I'm sure you've all guessed as to what the flashbacks have been leading up to, so I don't see a point in dragging them out much longer. I hope this chapter also gives you some better insight into Mahalo's troubled mind. The next chapter starts the action again, so keep being awesome and check to see if I have updated yet because it won't be long before I post it! Anyways, happy reading!

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_**CHAPTER TWENTY**_

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"_You _will _follow me into this fight, Mahalo Lahote. You _will _heed my commands. This is my_—our—_destiny, kid. You can't stop fate."_

_Mahalo's knuckles were white with strain as he clenched the dirt he'd been forced to kneel upon. He gritted his teeth together, fighting the almost uncontrollable urge to transform and attack the man he once called his best friend. He knew he had to restrain himself, because the one thing Joshua Uley _couldn't _do was command him to transform. He could order him around as a human or as a wolf, but he could never take away the little free will Mahalo had left over choosing his own form._

_The sky cracked above them ominously as the drizzle they'd been experiencing turned to rain. While Mahalo was looking up, Josh took the opportunity to kick him in the face for the fifth time. Josh had commanded Mahalo to kneel without moving specifically for this reason. Since Mahalo couldn't move from his kneeling position he wasn't able to pop his bones back into place in order for them to heal. Josh had already broken Mahalo's nose and a cheekbone, but he still continued to hit him in the face anyways._

_Mahalo let out a furious growl. Fear shot through him at the sound, because it meant he'd been _this close _to transforming. He ruthlessly bit his bottom lip, immediately drawing blood, in order to forcibly regain some control over his own body. His chest was heaving from the effort of holding himself together. He didn't know how much longer he could hang on to his own skin. He squeezed his eyes shut and pictured Lester; he pictured her laughing, singing, crying_—anything, _so long as it was Lester doing it. He held onto his mental images of her, focusing on them as he took slow, deep breaths._

_When he had finally calmed down enough to keep in control, he looked up from the ground to stare determinedly at Josh. He hadn't spoken once for the half hour they'd been up here, but he knew now was the time to break his silence. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he said, with as much strength as he could muster, "Don't do this, brother."_

_He'd contemplated saying something menacing, like 'this is your last chance to put an end to this before I kill you' or simply 'I'm going to kill you,' but Mahalo had grown up in the past few years and had left his childish hotheaded ways behind. Well, for the most part. He knew that antagonizing him would be pointless. He doubted that anything he could say would deter Joshua Uley from his goal, but he had to try._

_Joshua dropped to his knees in front of Mahalo, splattering mud everywhere, but neither of the two boys paid much attention to it. Joshua reached out and grasped the back of Mahalo's neck in a familiar comradely way, kissing his forehead quickly and then releasing him. They had developed this as a sign of loyalty to one another over the years, but this had been the first time in a long while they'd used it._

_Unwittingly, tears rose in Mahalo's eyes as memories of the two of them assaulted his mind. There they were laughing uncontrollably at something that was probably incredibly stupid. There they were again running side-by-side through the trees, playfully nipping at each other as they ran. And again, hugging one another tightly as Mahalo cried to Joshua after being beaten by his drunken father once again. And again, and again, and again. There were _so _many memories. They were more than just friends, so much more. Joshua had been more than just a mentor to Mahalo; he was his big brother protecting him from all of the dangers of the world. So what went wrong? How did they end up so far apart from each other, when they'd been so inseparable before?_

"_Brother," Joshua murmured, grasping the back of Mahalo's neck once more as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against his. Mahalo saw the tears in his eyes, as well. "Brother," he repeated strongly, "I beg you to stop this foolish rebelling."_

_With a heavy sigh, Mahalo pulled back slightly and shook his head despondently. "I beg _you _to_ try_ to understand why I can't be the monster you want me to be. It's true, we would only be killing vampires, no longer humans themselves, but it's still _murder. _No matter what you've said to convince yourself that you're right, please listen to me now when I say murder _changes_ you. That's why we only fight vampires when we absolutely have to do in order to ensure our people's safety. You can never fully wash away the blood from your hands, Joshua, like a stain you can't remove no matter how hard you scrub. Please, just stop all of this madness and come back to my place. We can drink beer and watch football like we used to do; it'll be like old times."_

_For a moment, Mahalo actually believed he'd finally gotten through to him. The way Joshua was looking at him, as if he were searching his face for any sign of doubt, made Mahalo think that maybe Joshua had realized how misguided his ambitions had been. He was wrong, very, very wrong._

_Joshua got back on his feet swiftly. Mahalo watched, bemused, as Joshua began to pace back and forth in front of him. Suddenly, he stopped. Turning to look down at him, Joshua said quietly over the now pouring rain, "I didn't want to do this, Halo, but you've left me with no alternative. I can see now that there's no convincing you, it's written all over your face. I'd hoped you_—_" He cut himself off, shaking his head as though he were disappointed in him._

_Lightning struck close to them, just over the water, catching Mahalo's eye for a moment, and then he returned his gaze to Joshua. What he saw caused his heart to stop beating for what seemed like forever. "I'm truly sorry it's come down to this, Halo, but I can't fight this battle alone. I _need _you," said Joshua. He brought the cellphone he had fished out of his pocket up to his ear, commanding, "_Silence_," to Mahalo as he did so. There was only one person he could be calling._

"_Oh, thank God, I reached you," Joshua began hurriedly, as though he were anxious, "it's Mahalo, he's been attacked. He's asking for you. We're at the top of Eagle's Landing; come quickly! He might not have much time."_

"_NO!" Mahalo bellowed, breaking his Alpha's order of silence after only a few moments of struggling, but it was already too late. Joshua had quickly hung up the phone and returned it to his back pocket in a blink of an eye._

_Joshua then looked over at him in angered disbelief, and demanded, "How did you do that? I commanded you to be silent. I wonder if it has to do with imprinting."_

_Mahalo's brain didn't even register that Joshua had spoken. He was looking off to the side, watching his home at the bottom of the cliff with fear in his heart. Dread immediately took the place of fear while he watched helplessly as the figure he knew to be his wife burst out of the front door and headed this way._

"_You sick sonofabitch!" Mahalo roared, fury radiating through his body so fast and so intensely that he wondered why he hadn't transformed yet. He should've exploded into fur the moment Joshua had hung up the phone. Thinking fast, he thought of any way he could stop this horrible thing from happening. He tried to move, hoping whatever fluke had allowed him to break command before would mercifully happen again. Of course, he was left disappointed. That didn't stop him from struggling with all of his might, though, as he desperately willed his feet to work._

_There was absolutely nothing he could do._

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Mahalo Lahote sat in his darkened room with his head in his hands. His shoulders shook as he silently sobbed, thinking about the hurtful words his daughter had just spewed at him. He knew she didn't understand. He knew how she felt about Tiffany Call's son. He knew because he'd felt the very same passion for her mother. When he had found out that _his _daughter had been the first to be imprinted on by one of the new generation's wolves, he could've sworn he had a mini-heart attack. Not only was this horrible cycle continuing on into the new pack, but it had also started with _his _fucking daughter! And Mahalo knew he was running out of time, too.

He'd gotten word today that another had imprinted. It was the town's latest gossip, not that most of them knew the half of it. According to the gossips, Samuel Uley had fallen madly in love with Emily Young, but what so scandalous about it was her relation to one Leah Clearwater. Not only were the pair second cousins, but also the best of friends. Apparently, Emily had come down to visit Leah like she'd been doing since the two were little, and she just happened to run into Sam along the way. Mahalo had stopped listening at that point, having little interest in the love lives of children, because he had already heard what he'd needed to hear.

Of course, anyone privy to the "werewolf" secret knew the truth. He had no choice to re-break the heart of his once girlfriend, Leah, whom was still madly in love with him, when he first laid eyes on her second cousin. As far as Mahalo knew, Emily was still resisting any and all of Sam's attempts to talk to her, but he knew that would end soon. She didn't have much of a choice, either. That was the way of imprinting. He couldn't care less about the drama surrounding it; he cared about what it would mean to his daughter and her imprint. This new discovery would force the council to re-examine the rules that had been set regarding imprinting.

He'd always known this was going to happen. The only reason why it hadn't happened sooner was because there had only been two wolves in the previous pack, and Joshua Uley had never imprinted. The only case of "imprinting" the council had at the time had been his own with Celeste Black all those years ago, the one that went very, _very _wrong. The council would see in time the wonder that is imprinting and soon forget the cautionary tale of Mahalo and Lester. Sure, they'd still see the risk involved with a wolf caring so deeply about a civilian that could easily get hurt, but the pros would soon overcome the cons. This meant they would eventually lift their ban on werewolf and human fraternization, leaving nothing to stop Embry and Fallon from being together.

Except for Mahalo.

He knew tonight's drama was only a precursor for what was about to come in following days. Fallon would resent him more and more each passing day, knowing that he was now the only one to blame for keeping them apart. But he had no _choice_.

Unlike the council, he could _never_ forget the dangers of imprinting. He'd _felt _the dangers firsthand, and every day since. It was a horrendous pain he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, except for the one man that had helped cause it. His blood started to boil just _thinking _about him, with his haughty expression and condescending disdain. He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes until he saw bright spots, forcing _his _face to the back of his mind. He could never fully get rid of that image, no matter how much alcohol he drank, and _damn _he had tried his hardest.

Suddenly sick of moping in self-pity, he swung his legs over his bed and got to his feet. He flicked on his light and stared around at his room. It was the smallest in the house; he'd given Fallon the master bedroom to avoid the painful memories he associated with it. The walls were bare, except for the surfing poster Paul had put in his room years ago, which he had been yelled at profusely for doing. Mahalo flinched at the memory. He remembered that day; Paul had been nine at the time. He'd gotten so upset because he never wanted his children to come in his room, not for any privacy reason but because he was afraid they'd find something he didn't want them to see.

Mahalo sighed heavily and pulled open his top dresser drawer. He had many choices to choose from; there was tequila and rum, his favorites, as well as whiskey and vodka. His hand hovered over the whiskey bottle, but with an irate huff he instead slammed the drawer shut. He began pacing back and forth, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to think about something else. He knew he would have to steer clear of the bottle until this vampire drama was over. The thought of doing so drove him crazy; what would he do to lessen the pain he felt every single _fucking_ day?

Sometimes, he wished that Lester hadn't made him promise to never do the very thing he had so desperately wanted to do since the day her eyes shut for the last time. Sometimes, the pain was just _too much _for him to bear, but he could never fully take away that pain without breaking his promise.

And he would never break a promise he made to her. _Never_.

END OF PART TWO

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**EN: **I would love to hear you all's thoughts on the latest developments in your reviews. If you're willing, I'd love to know what you guys think about Mahalo and the flashback scene. I appreciate and love you all for making me feel like one day I might be good enough to fulfill my dream of becoming an author! Thanks for the love, I will update for you lovelies very soon!


	23. Second Interlude

**_INTERLUDE_  
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16 YEARS AGO

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The fierce wind whipped around the two men standing on top of Eagle's Landing; one of the figures kneeled as though he were praying, while the other leaned over him. As rain poured from out of the sky, Celeste Lahote watched as the kneeling man struggled desperately against an invisible force holding him back. The kneeling man—Mahalo, she realized—let out a cry of fury so loud that she could hear it over the wind and rain. Lester, already running up the cliff to meet him, pumped her legs harder, struggling with the added weight of a swollen belly. She ran with her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach where her baby laid, not yet born into this world but already _so _precious to her. She knew there was a very good chance this was some sort of trap, because she'd talked in depth with her husband about his Alpha's growing ambitions. She knew there was a very good chance that Joshua Uley had finally snapped, only calling her up here to bait her husband. It didn't matter, though. It would've been impossible for her to stay away when she believed Mahalo could possibly be in danger, even in her condition.

Mahalo bit his lip in an effort to hold back the anger that boiled inside of him at the sight of his very pregnant wife running up the steep incline. He immediately gave up on his dream of escaping this on his own accord, turning to look at the man who quietly stood beside him. "Please, _please_, call her back, tell her not to come. I'll do it. I'll do _whatever_ you want. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. _Please_," he yelled hoarsely, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. His wife would never turn back after receiving that phone call.

"God, _no_," Mahalo sobbed despairingly, putting his head in his hands as the tears rolled off his face and mixed with the rain. "If you hurt a _single _hair on her head, I will _kill you_," he then said severely, turning to look up at Joshua with tears in his eyes.

"I didn't want this," was all Joshua said in response.

At that precise moment, Lester turned the last winding bend leading up to the top of the cliff. Moments later she had reached the two men, out of breath and with wild, fearful eyes. They were fixed on Mahalo and _only _Mahalo. She ignored Joshua completely and came to kneel down in front of her husband. She put her hands on either side of his face and Mahalo immediately covered them with his own. She was just looking into his eyes, the same way he was looking into hers, when the uncontrollable sob Mahalo had been trying to hold back burst free.

"Shhh, baby, it's okay, it's okay," Lester told him, turning their hands over in order for her to firmly grasp his and intertwine their fingers together.

"No," Mahalo responded, gripping her hands tightly in his own, "it's _not _okay. Please, Lester, go home. I'm _begging you._"

Joshua finally spoke up, saying, "She's not going anywhere."

"You fucking bastard," snarled Mahalo, "she has nothing to do with this!"

"_Wrong_," Joshua snapped back, "she has _everything _to do with this, Halo. You've gone soft, you've _changed_, and she's the reason why! It's _her _fault."

Mahalo's breath caught in his throat. He saw that wild gleam in Joshua's eyes that could only mean trouble. The alarm he felt for his wife's safety before intensified as Mahalo realized how misguided his fears had been. He had never _truly_ believed Joshua would stoop so low as to actually _hurt _his Lester, but now he could see in Joshua's eyes how much _hatred _he had for her. Somehow, Joshua had gotten it into his head that _Lester_ was the one standing in his way, not Mahalo. His eyes widened fearfully, realizing where this was leading. Wordlessly, he released one of his wife's hands and used the other to swing her around behind him. He then immediately grabbed the hand he had released, preventing her from moving. He was only a little reassured knowing that she was safely—for the time being, anyways—behind him, back to back with him.

"Listen," Mahalo pleaded, but Joshua's eyes were still fixed on Lester. "_Listen to me_," Mahalo shouted, and Joshua finally looked back at him. "You're right, okay? You're right. She's slowing me down, holding me back. I realize that now. I'll leave with you this very second and we'll never have to come back. Okay? _Okay?_"

Joshua stared silently at him for a long time. Mahalo's chest was heaving, and with each passing heartbeat his fear grew. "Please," he whispered.

"I wish that I could believe you," Joshua said with a note of finality, "but I can't."

"_NO_," bellowed Mahalo. "NO! Don't you dare _touch _her!"

The moment Joshua took a step forward, Mahalo regained control of his legs. The second his Alpha had definitively decided to hurt his imprint, Mahalo was no longer bound by his commands. He could _feel _it in his bones. Joshua took another step forward, but Mahalo didn't move. _Wait for it, wait for it,_ he thought, watching Joshua's every step. Mahalo carefully untangled his hands from Lester's as Joshua took another step closer. Lester immediately tried to grab them again, panicked that he was about to do something stupid that might get him hurt, but he had already balled his hands into fists.

When Joshua took one last step forward, now standing directly in front of Mahalo, the latter immediately launched himself at him. Managing to catch him by surprise, Mahalo knocked him several feet away from Lester, landing on top of him. He slammed his balled fists repeatedly into his Alpha's face, snarling the entire time.

Lester let out a shriek when Joshua managed to push Mahalo off of himself, immediately following it up with several blows to Mahalo's face and body. Lester started to scream louder, but neither of the two men could hesitate long enough to look over at her. They rolled several feet away, snapping at each other's necks as though they were no longer human and had already transformed. Lester's screams were now continuous in the background as they both tried to get one up on the other.

Mahalo could only see red. His eyes were narrowed onto Joshua's face; he could see nothing else but him. Soon, even Lester's screams had faded into nothingness. At some point during his gradual loss of senses, he and Joshua had both transformed. However, they didn't hesitate for a second, continuing the fight as wolves as if nothing had changed. With a snarl of pure fury, Mahalo launched himself again at Joshua. A sudden shot of adrenaline allowed him to jump on Joshua's back and sink his teeth into his neck. Joshua whined and bucked, attempting unsuccessfully to rid himself of his attacker. Mahalo felt a surge of ruthless, bloodthirsty joy take over his body as he realized that this very well could mean the end of the fight, with himself as the victor.

Joshua wasn't giving up so easily, though. He dragged himself, with Mahalo's mouth still clamped down on his neck, towards Lester. Mahalo, so lost in his thirst for his enemy's blood, didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.

When his eyes finally lifted to seek out Lester, his jaw opened wide in shock, releasing Joshua immediately, who then limped a few feet away in order to give himself some time to heal. From all of the excitement and stress, Lester had gone into premature labor. Mahalo had transformed into his human shape instantaneously at the sight, rushing to her side. All he could see was blood. It was everywhere.

Lester's screams were now deafening in his ears, causing him to wonder how he could've been so oblivious to them before. The little baby girl was almost fully out of her womb by now, but the blood surrounding her was considerably less than the blood that covered her mother. Mahalo was shaking as he lifted Lester's head slightly in his arms, searching her body desperately for the source of all of this blood.

He saw several slash-like wounds across her chest and stomach, obviously made by sharp animal claws, and one fatal wound close to her heart. He screamed in absolute horror; he couldn't be sure that it wasn't him that had caused the wounds. He'd been so intent on slaying Joshua that he hadn't been paying attention to what was happening around him. He started to put his arms under her, preparing to lift her in order to run her as fast as he could to the nearest hospital, but what she croaked out stopped him short.

"N-n-no—t-t-the b-baby," she'd said.

Mahalo hadn't even glanced at the baby since he had first realized she was going into premature labor. He looked now and saw that she was fully out of her mother's womb, crying loudly where she laid covered with blood in the dirt. Mahalo, desperate to save his wife, contemplated biting the umbilical cord attaching her to her mother, so he could better carry his wife to safety. He wasn't going to just leave the baby there, of course, but he hadn't thought far along enough to decide what to do about it.

With wide, tearful eyes, Lester managed to choke out another few words, whispering, "My b-baby…g-give…I w-w-want—"

"Please, Lester," Mahalo sobbed, "_please_ let me get you to the hospital first."

"No," she said severely, and for a moment she almost sounded normal again, but then she started coughing up blood, destroying that illusion immediately. Mahalo quickly cradled the baby in his arms, laying her gently across his wife's bloody stomach. Lester was crying openly now as the baby wrapped her tiny hand's around one of Lester's fingers. "M-my b-baby…p-p-precious…" she gurgled as blood ran down the sides of her mouth with each passing word. She slowly shifted her gaze to a sobbing Mahalo, who immediately took her free hand in his own, bringing it up to his shaking lips to kiss.

Her eyes were bright and clear when she said, "Save my b-baby…m-my a-angel. Save _her_." Mahalo spared a quick glance at his daughter. Sure enough, the baby was already starting to turn a bluish hue, probably due to the freezing cold rain pelting her fragile newborn body. She was dying, as well.

"I can save you both," Mahalo responded determinedly, tears still running down his face, as he again tried to put his arms under his wife's body.

He dropped his arms in shock when Lester's hand firmly grasped his forearm. In a burst of adrenaline, fueled by a mother's eternal love for her child, she said clearly, "There's no time…no time. She'll die. Take her. _Now_."

Mahalo knew she was right. He wouldn't be able to rush Lester to the hospital fast enough to save her without the baby dying along the way due to exposure. And if he rushed the baby down to their house and wrapped her in a lot of blankets to keep her warm, which might not even be enough, Lester will have died by the time he got back. The only way to ensure the baby's survival was for her to be held against Mahalo's abnormally warm body, as well as being in their warm house. All of these scenarios ended up with Lester dead, if he chose to save the baby instead of her.

He looked into Lester's eyes, debating whether or not he should listen to her, as the baby's squawking started to slowly die down. He was running out of time.

Mahalo finally tore his eyes away from his wife, weeping almost incoherently now, as he used a sharp rock lying nearby to sever the child from its mother forever. He could hear Lester's sigh of relief as she watched Mahalo cradle the baby against his warm body, but he did not leave. Not yet. He wouldn't leave her here. Not like this.

He held Lester's hand against his lips again, kissing it repeatedly as his body shook with uncontrollable sobs. "Fallon," murmured Lester faintly, "my baby Fallon."

"She's beautiful," Mahalo told her through his tears. "So beautiful."

Lester gurgled up more blood, almost choking on it, and Mahalo immediately used the hand not cradling the baby to lift her head up to rest on his lap. She looked up at him as he leaned over her. His tears fell like rain upon her face as he quietly repeated over and over, like a mantra, "I love you."

Her lips quivered as the reality of what was happening fully sunk in. "I'm s-scared," she admitted in a feeble whisper.

This just made Mahalo want to sob harder, but he held it in for her sake. He instead smiled down at her, brushing back the wet strands of hair stuck to her face, as he murmured, "Don't be stupid. Wherever you are will be the most beautiful and wondrous place in the entirety of existence, whether it's heaven or hell. And if neither of those exists, you'll be dancing with the stars. Besides, I'll be right behind you."

Lester was fading faster now; Mahalo could feel it in his heart. She smiled faintly at what he'd described, but whispered, "Not _right _b-b-behind me, okay? P-p-promise me. P-p-promise y-y-you'll l-live for—for –them. They n-need you. F-follow m-me later."

Mahalo couldn't hold back his pain for much longer. He bit his bloody lip and then said brokenly, "You can't ask me that, Lester. I—I can't go on without you."

"Promise me," she just repeated, staring into his eyes unwaveringly.

Mahalo was crying openly now, no longer strong enough to hide the full extent of his pain from her. His body quaked; he couldn't even form words. He simply nodded. Mahalo immediately saw the peace enter her eyes after his promise. She sighed deeply as her eyes began to flutter. "Kiss me," she whispered.

Mahalo complied at once. Still holding the baby against his warm chest, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, feeling her kissing him back passionately. He kissed her fiercely until he could no longer feel her kissing him back. Even then, he hesitated to pull away, not ready to admit that she was gone.

Her final words _'kiss me' _wererepeated over and over again in his head. His chest seared with white-hot pain as she took her final breath. He screamed up at the sky in agony, clutching his chest with his free hand. He was on fire, burning from the inside out. The pain was so intense that he thought he might die. He then lifted her head with that free hand, kissing her forehead over and over again. The baby—Fallon—was already regaining some color in her skin. While he pressed his lips against his wife's forehead, holding them there as he quietly sobbed, little Fallon reached out to grab the finger she had clutched to before. When the finger didn't move like it had earlier, tears filled little Fallon's eyes and she began to cry alongside her father.

Joshua Uley, forgotten completely in all of turmoil, was like a statue, staring with wide eyes at what he had done. "I didn't mean—I'm so sorry," he whispered, even though no one was listening. He then turned and ran, never to be seen again.

Much, much later, when Mahalo stood before the council for the first time since that night, he stared blankly at his hands while he waited. After what seemed like ages, he was finally told the verdict. "Under the circumstances, we have decided to tell the people that Celeste has died in childbirth to avoid any suspicion. I'm sure you will agree with us on that point. However, as for your request, I'm afraid we must deny you. Neither you nor anyone else in the reservation should hunt down Joshua Uley. We—"

Mahalo snapped out of his blank state and immediately interrupted, outraged, saying, "You're going to just _let him go?_"

Each member of the council looked uneasy at his outburst; not one of them could look him in the eye. "Werewolves are known to cause devastation in these types of situations, as you well know. We think it's unwise to purposely seek out another horrible event like this by pursuing him. However, we will put several laws into place regarding imprinting and werewolf/human relations—"

Mahalo had turned and walked from the room before they had even finished. He didn't care about anything they had to say after they denied him the right to hunt down his wife's murderer. He was going to go home, drink himself to oblivion like he'd been doing every night, and then wake up the next morning and blatantly ignore the council's decision by going after Joshua Uley.

No mater how long it would take, he _would _find him and bring him to justice.

* * *

**EN: **Okay, so this _should _be the final flashback, because they have all been leading up to this very chapter. I don't see a reason to have any more snippets of the past in future chapters, because I planned to only have them occurring in part two. This also marks the second and final interlude in my story, so the following chapters will be the conclusion to the story, as part three. Now that all of the characters have been fully developed and most of the mysteries have been solved, the story from now on will focus mainly on Fallon and Embry's relationship, as well as the vampire stalking them.

Also - this should explain why Mahalo would disappear for long periods of time; he was always searching for Joshua Uley, and he has still yet to find him. This is also the reason why he despises the council as well, because of their response to his request to hunt down Joshua.

Like always, I would love to hear what you guys thought of the final flashback scene in your reviews! If you still have any lingering questions, feel free to ask them as well in your reviews! I hope you all understand now why Mahalo is so against his daughter's relationship with Embry. He fears not only for her safety around him, but for her health also. What I mean by that is the strong attachment she could have for Embry if the relationship continued further would cause her enormous pain if anything should happen to Embry. He would never want his daughter to go through the torment that he had gone through.

I LOVE YOU ALL!


	24. Nothing Really Seemed Amiss

_**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**_

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In the two hours since the huge fight with her dad, Fallon had been pacing back and forth in her room, wringing her hands together nervously. She had debated marching straight up to her father's door and demanding to know why he despised Embry so much, but her guilt stopped her from doing so every time the thought came to mind. The hateful words she had yelled at her father were still ringing in her head, causing her endless amounts of regret and shame. Even though she believed she had the right to be pissed at her father, he didn't deserve to be yelled at with those thoughtless words.

A quiet knock at her door elicited a surprised yelp from her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she'd forgotten her surroundings for a moment. The door pushed inward to reveal her older brother Paul; a part of her had wished it were her father.

Paul didn't ask for permission to come in, he never did, and immediately went to her bed and sat down. He patted the spot next to him, so with a small sigh Fallon dutifully sat down beside him. Before he could even say anything, she demanded, "Was he right when he said _two _werewolves? Are you planning on keeping me from Embry, as well?"

Paul sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Fallon," he began in a tone Fallon already knew to mean he was about to say something she didn't want to hear. "Dad has his reasons, even if we don't understand them or even know what they are—"

"Let me just stop you there, Paul," Fallon interrupted angrily. "You've never before just 'accepted' his reasoning, so why would you do so now?"

"Because, Fallon, regardless of Dad's motives, he's right when he says that kid is causing you nothing but trouble," responded Paul just as heatedly.

Fallon rolled her eyes and got back to her feet, resuming her pacing. "_Puh-lease_, Paul," she grunted. "So now your fellow pack member is just 'that kid' to you?"

Paul got to his feet as well, grabbing both of Fallon's shoulders and stopping her in her tracks to glare severely into her eyes. "Yeah, he _is _just a stupid kid to me now that he's put my little sister in so much danger. Don't you fucking realize the seriousness of this situation, Fallon? This isn't some sort of _game_. This vampire will _kill _you if it gets the chance," Paul practically screamed at her in frustration.

Fallon furiously shook off his hands, stepping around him to go sit on the opposite end of her bed, facing away from him as she glared at a spot on the wall. "No shit, Paul," she said. "I mean I _was _fucking attacked by the thing almost a week ago. Hell, I'm not even allowed to go to _school _anymore. I'm going to have to finish up the remainder of my sophomore year in home schooling, probably into my summer, as well."

Paul took a deep breath in an obvious attempt to swallow down his frustration. Then, as calmly as he could manage, he said, "I just came in here to tell you that yeah I know this situation sucks, but you're just going to have to grow up and deal with it. Dad isn't going anywhere and neither am I, so we'll ride out this storm _together_, okay?"

Fallon just huffed crossly and shook her head, not saying anything. She wanted to shout at Paul that she'd grown up a long time ago; she had to in order to survive on her own. She kept mum, though, knowing that it would only continue the pointless yelling match she was having with her brother. Paul seemed to think this meant that she was finally accepting what he had said to be true, so he placed a quick kiss on her forehead and ruffled her hair playfully. "You know I love you, Bugs, and so does Dad, in his own way," he said quietly. When she still didn't say anything, he started to head to the door. Pausing with his hand on the knob, he added, "Most of the pack will be in or around the house until this thing blows over, so don't be alarmed if you see or hear anything in the woods. Jared is in the living room right now, if you care to join us later."

Fallon perked up suddenly with a terrifying thought. Stopping Paul before he'd fully left the room, she asked carefully, "When you say 'most of the pack,' do you mean that the rest will actually be out _looking _for it?"

Paul knew she was really just referring to Embry, but he answered anyways, saying, "Of course, Fall. We'll all be taking shifts, alternating between guarding the house and searching the woods." He left before she could say anything else.

So not only was Fallon having to deal with the guilt of hurting her father, but also with the knowledge that she was the one putting the _entire _pack at risk. But what scared her most was the realization that Embry was out there somewhere with the possibility of being hurt looming over his head. Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, she ran to the bathroom and threw up several times. Returning to her bed a few minutes later, she curled up into a tiny ball under her sheets and began to softly cry.

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Fallon didn't leave her room until midnight the following day.

When she entered the kitchen and opened the fridge to rummage through its contents, she found that Paul hadn't been lying when he'd said different members of the pack would be frequenting the house. The only food remaining in the fridge was a half eaten _Subway _sandwich. She glanced at the condiments left over, and realized with a sigh that if she _really _wanted to eat anything it would have to be ketchup from straight out the bottle. She slammed the fridge shut in frustration.

"Careful, Fallon, you might wake up the entire house."

Fallon jumped in surprise, turning to stare disbelievingly at the person who'd just spoken. "How did you get in here?" she demanded.

Embry stepped out from the shadows and immediately wrapped his arms around her. With a lopsided grin, he looked down at her and murmured, "Does it really matter?"

Fallon reached up to bring his face down to hers, kissing him breathlessly. The kiss made her feel a giddy sort of tingling from her head down to her toes. Somehow, knowing that they might get caught made it all the more exciting. "Guess not," she whispered against his lips, feeling him smile in response.

To her surprise, he only allowed her to bestow a few more kisses to his lips before pulling back. "However much I love kissing you, that's not the reason why I came here," he told her, and for the first time that night she noticed the excitement glowing in his eyes. She'd been a little…_distracted_ before. "I'm assuming you already know this, what with that kid probably relaying to you the goings-on around town while you're on house arrest, but do you know what this _means _for us?"

Fallon took a step back, staring at him in utter bewilderment. She knew when Embry said 'that kid' he was referring to Parker in the same way that her brother and father used the term to describe Embry. She'd found that being called 'that kid' was a man's way of demeaning another man he disliked by not giving him a name. She didn't understand _why _Embry disliked Parker, when she'd told him countless times they were just friends, but she had accepted it as just another one of the silly things men do. "What are you talking about?" she asked bemusedly. "I haven't spoken to Parker in weeks."

Now Embry looked at her peculiarly. "Really?" he asked in a tone of surprise. "Not that I mind or anything, but I figured you would've wanted to see him the minute he got back. So you haven't heard the town's latest gossip?"

Even though Embry had immediately dismissed her lack of communication with her best friend as normal, Fallon knew it not to be. "Wait, wait. What do you mean by 'the minute he got back,' Embry? The soccer team is still gone," she said.

"No, they got back a few days ago. Jared was bragging to me about how good they did this year, going on an on about how great he was when he was on the team. But, listen; I have _really _good news to tell you," responded Embry, but Fallon was no longer listening. She was still thinking about the soccer team.

"Something's not right," she muttered to herself, moving past Embry as she took out her cellphone. No missed calls. No texts. This was so unlike Parker; normally, he would've come straight over here after getting back from any sort of trip.

"Fall, what's wrong?" Embry asked quietly, confused and slightly hurt at how easily she could just brush him off.

"I need to call Parker," Fallon told him distractedly, already dialing the familiar number into her phone and putting it against her ear. It rang several times before going to voicemail, which was full due to all the messages she'd been leaving daily. "Dammit, Parker," she muttered. She then dialed his house phone, again putting it up to her ear.

On the very last ring, she heard a click, and then a tired voice said, _"Fallon, sweetheart. I saw it was you, so I picked up. Everything okay?"_

Fallon could've slapped herself for being so stupid as to forget that it was midnight. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Grey, I forgot the time," she began apologetically, "but I was wondering if you knew where Parker has been for the past few days. I've been worried about him." She ignored the hurt her words had obviously caused Embry.

"_Oh, dear, has no one told you? I'm sorry, we should have told you ourselves. An all-star team recruited him after the coach saw him play in Tacoma. He's finishing the remainder of the year there. You can come around in the morning to talk more about it, dear, but I need to go back to bed and get some beauty sleep; us old birds need it more than you young ones, who can stay up so late!"_

"There's just one more thing I need to ask. Have you spoken to him?"

"_Of course, almost every night! Well, goodnight, dear."_

The phone clicked off as Parker's mom hung up, but Fallon still hadn't taken the phone away from her ear. She listened to the dial tone for a solid minute, before finally returning her phone to her pocket. "See?" Embry said at once. "He's fine."

She'd forgotten how well werewolves could hear. Finally turning back to look at Embry, she murmured, "That can't be right. He wouldn't do that to me, not without at least calling first. Something just feels _wrong _here."

"Maybe he just hasn't had the time," Embry suggested, even though it pained him to be talking so candidly about another man Fallon obviously cared deeply for.

"He would call me before he would call his mother, Embry," Fallon said, hearing her fear coloring her tone of voice. "And Park isn't even that _good _at soccer. He only plays for a bit of fun with his friends and for some exercise. He wouldn't want to join another team; I _know _it. What if something's happened to him?"

Embry pulled her in for a comforting hug, resting his chin atop her head, as he soothingly rubbed circles into her back. He also hadn't wanted her to see the pain in his eyes. With a deep sigh, he murmured into her hair, "I'm sure he's fine, Fallon. You're probably just overreacting. You heard her, he's been checking in with his family every night. If it makes you feel any better, tomorrow we can look up the new school he's attending and see if it's legit, alright?"

Fallon took a deep breath and allowed herself to relax in Embry's arms. She looked up at him as he looked down at her, giving him a small smile. "Thanks, Embry, I would appreciate that," she told him, giving him a light kiss on the lips. Embry was probably right, anyways. Nothing _really _seemed amiss, besides the fact that he hadn't called her. Maybe that was the reason Fallon was so anxious. Her feelings were hurt, so maybe she was just looking for any excuse that might explain why he hadn't called.

_Maybe_ she just needed to accept the fact that Parker had grown tired of her friendship and was probably just seeking out something more exciting in Tacoma. Maybe that was how he felt about La Push, so he no longer wanted to be friends with someone who reminded him of home. She'd always believed he'd loved La Push just as much as she did, but maybe she had been wrong.

A small part of her also wondered if Embry was right to be jealous of Parker. There was a possibility, albeit a very slim one, that Parker _had _grown romantic feelings for her over the years, and was now tired of being _just_ friends with her.

Fallon quieted her racing mind and kissed Embry again, comforted by the fact that all of her questions would be answered by sunrise.


End file.
